Ex-Agilent employee suspected of stealing company equipment

A former Agilent employee may have stolen as much as $1 million in electronics equipment from the company — items found Monday night by Santa Rosa police stacked inside his home.

Detectives went to the residence looking for $33,000 in items stolen in two recent burglaries at the technology company. But when they arrived at Timothy Webb’s southwest home about 9 p.m. Monday they found far more, Sgt. Eric Litchfield said.

The items, mostly high-end electronics, were stored in every room of the house, he said.

A preliminary analysis of the evidence indicated that there was $500,000 in up-to-date equipment in the home and perhaps another $500,000 in outdated equipment that Agilent officials now considered worthless, he said.

One piece alone was valued at about $200,000. It was large enough that company officials were concerned it may have taken more than one person to steal, Litchfield said.

The company apparently was unaware the piece was missing. Whether the company was aware of the extent of the missing property wasn’t known Tuesday afternoon.

Company officials were not immediately available for comment on Monday. Police said that except for the two recent burglaries, Agilent had never filed theft reports with them about the missing equipment.

Agilent, Sonoma County’s largest high-tech employer, is the world’s leading supplier of test tools for wireless phones. Webb worked for the company for 15 years at both the Rohnert Park and the Fountaingrove plants.

He left 18 months ago. Litchfield declined to say why the man left, citing company personnel policies.

The investigation now will focus on several issues, Litchfield said. How far back do the thefts go? Were items sold, and if so, for how much? And how did the thefts occur?

“It’s gone on a long time. We’re not sure for how long,” Litchfield said.

When detectives found the house stuffed with electronic goods marked with Agilent property tags, they quickly called the company. For about six hours, Agilent representatives helped crime scene technicians identify the pieces.

“They brought moving trucks in. We documented the serial numbers and model makes. We photographed it piece by piece,” Litchfield said.

“About half was so outdated they had no use for it anymore,” Litchfield said. At one time, the outdated equipment could have been worth about $500,000, Litchfield said.

“They were really happy to get everything back,” he said.

At about 3 a.m. the company carted the equipment away. Police said Agilent officials on Tuesday were going through the list, trying to identify when and from where the pieces disappeared.

Detectives were awaiting the list to help better identify the overall loss.

Webb’s arrest Monday night followed investigations into the two recent burglaries at the Fountaingrove company.

Someone broke in the night of Feb. 17 and again Saturday night. About $33,000 in high-tech equipment was taken.

Agilent employees were reviewing surveillance tapes from those nights and recognized the former employee. Detectives quickly obtained a search warrant and went to his home. They recovered all the equipment from the two recent burglaries, Litchfield said.

Webb cooperated with detectives, admitting to the two recent burglaries, he said.

Many of the stolen items are small and an employee could hide them in a pocket or bag and carry them out the door, Litchfield said.

The items are highly specialized and thus not the kinds of things a typical consumer would buy, Litchfield said.

Webb was arrested at his home. Officers booked him into Sonoma County Jail on multiple counts of commercial burglary and possession of stolen property. He was released after posting bail.

His wife, who shares the home, is not a suspect, Litchfield said.

You can reach Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.