A man pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple break-ins of vehicles and sheds at Cal State Fullerton and was sentenced to 82 days in jail, the time he has served behind bars awaiting trial.
Ryan Chase Bumgarner, 36, pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and single counts each of grand theft, receiving stolen property, vandalism and possession of dangerous and deadly weapons on campus, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of burglary tools and possession of a controlled substance. He was also placed on two years of formal probation.
Cal State Fullerton police officers on patrol spotted a truck full of equipment in a parking facility on campus at 3:48 a.m. March 3, 2021, and were suspicious, said Cal State Fullerton police Capt. Scot Willey.
When Bumgarner and co-defendant John Michael Nicely saw campus police they “took off,” but with help from Fullerton police the two were quickly apprehended, Willey said.
The duo are “friends who grew up with each other and decided to go smoke meth and go to Cal State Fullerton to steal things,” Willey alleged.
Bumgarner and Nicely were accused of breaking into vehicles, sheds and stealing the equipment of plumbers and electricians worth about $5,000, Willey said.
Police also recovered stolen personal paperwork investigators suspect was being used for identity theft as well as insurance and unemployment fraud, Willey said.
Nicely, 41, is awaiting trial.