Prolific cat burglar's stolen loot keeps growing

SAN FRANCISCO

Investigators say Pooja Gandhi broke into apartments, homes and stores and stole anything that wasn't nailed down.

Late last month, police arrested Gandhi and Joseph Valdez, a man they say is her accomplice. And to the officers' surprise, at her Polk Street apartment, they found five truckloads of stolen goods.

Sgt. Marty Lalor heads the investigation.

"We had every kind of property you could possibly imagine," he said.

Two weeks ago, police gave ABC7 an exclusive look at some of the items, which even included stolen dog collars and a vacuum cleaner.

Then there was another surprise.

"Because you had the broadcast and the news clip, I received a phone call from the station that someone had identified a new storage location.

Police responded to the tip and they found even more stolen goods at a Noe Valley apartment building.

"Another three truckloads," Lalor said.

That's eight truckloads of goods Gandhi and Valdez are accused of stealing; so much stuff that seven officers have been assigned to process the items. Their pictures are now in huge binders for burglary victims to identify.

Dr. Scott Campbell was at the police station to see if some of his belongings were there. His home was robbed when he was on vacation.

"Approximately a week and a half later, I was re-robbed presumably by the same strike team," he said.

He couldn't believe how much stuff Gandhi is accused of stealing.

"Essentially it sounds like her own Craigslist or Costco," Campbell said.

After perusing the binders, Campbell found something that belongs to him -- an end table.

If you've been a victim of a burglary in the past six to eight months in San Francisco, you can call the Northern Police Station at (415) 614-3400 to see if your belongings may be part of the stolen goods they recovered.

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