Burglary Suspect Arrested at Motel

A 33-year-old man was arrested Tuesday in connection with a string of five commercial burglaries after police found him with an estimated $25,000 worth of stolen property, police said.

The arrest occurred about 7:30 a.m., shortly after Anaheim Police Officer Tom McManus spotted a “suspicious looking” vehicle parked at the Polynesian Motel at 641 S. Brookhurst St., police said.

McManus, an 18-year veteran with the department, checked the license plate and discovered that the 1988 Dodge Dakota pickup had been stolen last month, police said.

Detectives set up a surveillance on the pickup truck and arrested Randall Edgar Whitehead, who had come out of a motel room and begun loading the vehicle with stolen property, Anaheim Police Lt. Ray Welch said.

Property that had been stolen from five businesses was seized from the truck and the room, Welch said.

The stolen property was returned to the victims Tuesday.

Whitehead, also known as Randy Glenn Eastman, was being held in the Anaheim Police Department’s Temporary Detention Facility on suspicion of auto theft, burglary and receiving stolen property, Welch said. Bail was set at $10,000, but he was also being held on a previous no-bail warrant for a probation violation, he said.

Whitehead’s last known residence was in Yorba Linda, police said.