Hemet man arrested for breaking into businesses in Riverside, San Diego counties

HEMET - A 41-year-old man was jailed on Thursday, Aug. 1 on suspicion of carrying out at a series of burglaries at breweries, small family restaurants or other family-owned businesses in Riverside and San Diego counties.

Nathan Maynard of Hemet was arrested Friday in Hemet and booked into the Vista Detention Facility in San Diego County in connection with the spree, Oceanside police spokesman Tom Bussey said.

Between March and July, authorities received reports of at least 20 commercial burglaries targeting breweries, small family restaurants or other family-owned businesses throughout San Diego and Riverside counties, Bussey said.

"Based on the similarities of the crimes and surveillance video obtained, investigators believed these cases were all related,'' he said.

On July 21, Maynard was arrested after Oceanside police and Riverside County sheriff's deputies observed him attempt to break into Weins Brewing on Rancho California Road in Temecula through a window. When they searched his vehicle, they found items linking him to several other burglaries in Riverside and San Diego counties.

He was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside but released later that day after he posted bail.

A woman with Maynard, identified as 35-year-old Leticia Esparza, also was arrested that day, but later was released.

On Friday, Oceanside police served a search warrant at Maynard's residence in Hemet and found more evidence linking him to the burglaries. He was arrested again that day and booked into the Vista Detention Facility.

Oceanside police served another search warrant on Wednesday at a home on Lonnie Street in Oceanside and found stolen property from Twisted Horn Mead & Cider in Vista.

An unidentified woman believed to be Maynard's girlfriend was arrested that day on an unrelated warrant.

Maynard is being held at the Vista Detention Facility on $450,000 bail pending arraignment, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 8 at the Vista courthouse, according to jail records.