Men face charges over theft of Alameda police motorcycle

OFF THE WIRE,
2 genuises at work here but the Cops took 2 years to figure it out ?
READ ON
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15430475 Men face charges over theft of Alameda police motorcycle By Peter Hegarty Staff Writer Posted: 07/02/2010 04:07:11 PM PDT Updated: 07/02/2010 04:07:11 PM PDT
ALAMEDA — Two men are facing burglary charges after investigators accused them of stealing an Alameda police motorcycle from a locked storage unit two years ago.
Alameda detectives served Randy Gene Mills, 53, with a felony arrest warrant Thursday at his residence in the 600 block of Walnut Avenue in Martinez.
His alleged accomplice, Jebba Catley, 42, was served with a similar warrant at Contra Costa County Jail, where he is currently being held in connection with a Walnut Creek burglary, police said.
Mills and Catley allegedly stole the 2001 Harley-Davidson Road King — which Alameda police were using to train new motorcycle officers — from a building at the former Alameda Naval Air Station on Sept. 26, 2008, according to police.
The men were identified as suspects just hours after the theft when a witness spotted them allegedly unloading the motorcycle from the bed of a Ford pickup parked outside Mills's home in Martinez and called police.
While investigators suspected the men carried out the burglary, securing arrest warrants was delayed nearly two years due to a backlog at the Alameda County crime laboratory. Analysts at the crime lab unsuccessfully tried to connect a cut padlock recovered at the storage unit with bolt cutters found at the residence in Martinez.
The stolen motorcycle featured an Alameda police logo, but it did not have a siren, police radio or other special equipment. The men were - reportedly using a razor blade to try to remove the logo when Martinez officers showed up in 2008 after the neighbor saw them and called police.
Catley claimed he had purchased the Harley for $1,000, but he could not identify the seller or location, police said.
Catley was initially booked on suspicion of possession of stolen property, while Mills was detained at the scene but released pending further investigation.
Alameda police wanted both men to face burglary charges and recently secured arrest warrants in the case.