Police: Santa Rosa mechanical bull theft suspects arrested, 3 bulls recovered

Three mechanical bulls were among property stolen in a series of thefts that resulted in two suspects being arrested Monday morning, Santa Rosa Police said.

Santa Rosa residents Jonathan Galvez, 31, and Seamus Gilshenan Jr, 32, were arrested 7:45 a.m. Monday during a traffic stop on Cleveland Avenue near Guerneville Road, authorities said.

They were in a Chevrolet pickup that police had been looking for since Nov. 28 when a witness saw a suspicious vehicle towing a cargo trailer out of a parking lot on Highway 12 in east Santa Rosa.

The witness called investigators because he was familiar with the trailer and its owner. It contained “thousands of dollars of construction tools,” police said.

Surveillance footage showed it being towed by a Chevrolet pickup, which also appeared in footage of the mechanical bull theft near Cleveland and Ninth Street about 8:20 p.m. Nov. 30.

Each bull is worth about $8,000.

Their owner posted about the theft on social media and this led to witnesses contacting investigators and directing them to West Barham Avenue.

Once there, police found a Santa Rosa man loading the bulls into a vehicle. He bought them but was preparing to return the bulls after seeing the owner’s social media posts, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Chris Mahurin said.

The buyer is also considered a victim and “basically he’s out the money he paid the suspects,” Mahurin said.

Investigators pulled over the suspects Monday morning and found stolen property, including power tools, bolt cutters and saws. There were also “multiple styles of different tow hitch receivers to facilitate trailer thefts,” police said.

Galvez is accused of being the driver during both thefts. While Gilshenan is suspected of being involved in the theft of the mechanical bulls, police said.

Both men are also suspected of stealing the contents of a cargo trailer on Coffey Lane in Santa Rosa, as well as taking an entire container from Redwood Valley, north of Ukiah.

Galvez was arrested on suspicion of grand theft, grand theft of a vehicle, burglary, possession of stolen property and conspiracy to commit crime.

Gilshenan was arrested on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property, conspiracy to commit a crime and parole violation.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi.