San Rafael, CA - On the evening of Sunday, April 12th, 2020, Michael Anthony Garcia, a 27-year-old Novato resident, was arrested for being in possession of stolen property, a drug-addict in possession of a firearm, possession of burglary tools, and additional drug-related offenses, after he was stopped in his vehicle by a San Rafael Police K-9 unit.

At 6:15 pm, Officer Scalercio and his K-9 partner “Jesko” were on police patrol in the area of Bellam Boulevard and Francisco Boulevard East, when Officer Scalercio observed a vehicle displaying a rear license plate that did not belong to the vehicle.  The K-9 unit made a traffic enforcement stop of the vehicle and contacted the driver, Michael Anthony Garcia.

Garcia admitted to placing the license plate on his vehicle so it looked like it had current registration.  Garcia, who was on Marin County Probation for past narcotic related offenses, was detained outside of the vehicle while Officer Scalercio used his K-9 partner “Jesko” to search the car for possible drugs.

During the search of the car, K-9 Jesko alerted to the presence of drugs.  K-9 Jesko and Officer Scalercio located a small amount of heroin and paraphernalia used for smoking and taking drugs.  They also found a previously reported stolen Colt Python .357 magnum revolver handgun, ammunition, burglary tools, lock picking sets, stolen identification cards, and a small bat that was placed by the driver seat and set up to be used as a weapon. 

Garcia was arrested and confessed to stealing the firearm during a burglary in Mill Valley.  He also admitted to stealing other items.  Garcia was booked into the Marin County Jail for several felony and misdemeanor offenses which included 29800(a)(1) PC - Addict in Possession of a Firearm, 496(A) PC - Possession of Stolen Property, 466 PC - Possession of Burglary Tools, 11350 H&S - Possession of Narcotics, 11364 H&S - Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and 1203.2 PC - Violation of Probation.  Garcia is currently being held at the Marin County Jail with no bail.

San Rafael Police coordinated the investigation with Mill Valley Police and their open burglary case.  It was determined that additional property, which included additional firearms and two safes, were still missing from the burglary.  San Rafael and Novato Police Officers went to Garcia’s Novato residents and performed a probation search to look for the additional stolen property.  During the search, officers were able to recover an additional firearm connected to the burglary.  This investigation is still active and ongoing.