Los Gatos/Monte Sereno – 27-year-old Tyler Jeremy Heinen admitted to felony burglary (PC 459 – 460 (a)) of a home on the 1300 block of Elwood Drive in Los Gatos sometime during June 15 – 24 of 2013. The next court hearing has been scheduled for Monday, June 30 at 9:00 am in Dept. 35.
It is believed that during the period of June 15 to 24, 2013 Heinen was responsible for a burglary in which he had used forcible entry. The City of Campbell Police Department has jurisdiction in this part of Los Gatos and responded to a call by the owner of the home, who had left for a week of vacation. When he came back, he had seen that his front door had been damaged and that his TV, Nintendo Wii, controllers and games had all been stolen. A friend was caring for the dog, but did not have access to the home and was unaware of the break in.
The owner of the home believed that the neighbors’ son, Tyler Heinen, had broken into their home while they were away on vacation. They believed he was responsible for the break in, having come to the home asking for $20 for a pizza because his mother was not home. Police were able to locate several sets of latent prints from the scene.
On August 4, 2013 the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police arrested Heinen at his home for a felony outstanding warrant and drug possession. During a probation search, men’s and women’s jewelry was located inside his bedroom and vehicle. The homeowner identified the jewelry, not realizing it had been stolen prior to officers finding the it. A pawn slip was found in Heinen’s possession, showing that he had pawned a Vizio TV dated on 6/22/2013 for $65, along with a receipt for Game Stop showing that he had sold 25 games, identified as games used to play the Wii Nintendo.
During the time of this offense, Heinen was on active probation for a similar offense and HS 11350(a) – possession of a controlled substance, and HS 11550 – being under the influence of a controlled substance. He was also on probation for PC 459-460 (b) 2nd degree burglary. Heinen told investigating officers the Wii and video games were not his, and that they belonged to his neighbor who lives to the right of his house.
After talking to probation officers who found the overwhelming evidence of the theft, Heinen finally came clean and admitted to being the one who broke into their home. He told them “He was using heroin and was not in his right mind and needed to get well”. They said he added that “He was stupid and he regrets taking the items”. Heinen said that he had taken the items to buy more drugs. He has a record of at least four arrests from 2011 to 2013 preceding the latest one, for various drug and burglary charges, and he was arrested this year as well, on February 25 for the same.
