GPS tracking equipped laptop leads to Anderson burglar’s arrest in Red Bluff

January 2, 2022 Trevor Montgomery

ANDERSON, Calif., — Authorities say that a Sacramento man who burglarized an Anderson home and fled to the Red Bluff area with property stolen from the residence was tracked down several hours later with help from a laptop equipped with a GPS tracking device.

In addition to the residential burglary, which occurred late Thursday evening, Dec. 30, in the 20000 block of Solomon Peak Drive in Anderson, the suspect was tied to a vehicle burglary that also happened in Anderson.

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City of Anderson police officers responded to the residence around midnight after receiving the report of a burglary alarm activation at the home, Anderson PD has since reported.

When officers arrived at the home, they found a back sliding glass window that had been broken and discovered that entry had been made into the residence.

Michael Estorga of Sacramento was arrested at a Red Bluff motel after Anderson and Red Bluff police officers used a GPS tracking device equipped laptop led them straight to the room where he had fled to after burglarizing an Anderson home. Anderson PD photo

Not at the residence when the burglary occurred, the homeowner responded to the scene and confirmed that numerous items had been stolen from inside the home.

One of those stolen items turned out to be a laptop that was equipped with active GPS tracking and the laptop’s GPS tracking showed the stolen computer was in the Red Bluff area.

Anderson officers were able to obtain video surveillance from the burglary and provided Red Bluff officers with a description of the suspect as well as a description of the vehicle the suspect was filmed leaving the area in.

Based on the GPS tracking-equipped laptop, investigating officers contacted the Red Bluff Police Department and requested they begin a search of the area that the device was last known to be in.

Red Bluff officers quickly located the suspect and his vehicle at the Red Bluff Holiday Inn on Main Street and detained him without incident.

He was later identified as Michael Brian Estorga, 40, of Sacramento.

Estorga was found to be in possession of the stolen laptop, as well as property that was determined to be stolen for a separate vehicle burglary that had also occurred in the Anderson area.

Based on the recovered stolen property, Red Bluff officers arrested Estorga and he was booked into the Tehama County Jail.

After being notified of Estorga’s arrest, Anderson officers and detectives continued to work the case throughout the day and obtained additional evidence linking Estorga to the two burglaries.

Based on their follow-up investigation and findings, Anderson officials obtained an arrest warrant for Estorga, and later that afternoon, detectives responded to the Tehama County Jail and took Estorga into custody on the Shasta County arrest warrant.

Estorga was then transported back to Shasta County where he was booked into the Shasta County Jail in Redding on the two burglary charges.

Online jail records indicate he remains in custody in lieu of $100,000 bail or bond.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.