Burglars target Navy officer traveling through Watsonville

What started as an overnight stop in Watsonville, turned into a nightmare for a Navy officer on his way to Washington to report for duty. The officer’s truck, and the UHaul trailer he was towing, with his motorcycle and all of his possessions inside were stolen during the night from a motel parking lot.

“My life. I had everything. I had my uniform for the military, my medical records, my dental records,” Navy Petty Officer Daniel Monson said.

Monson and his girlfriend got to a motel in Watsonville at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Tired from their drive from Arizona, he said they left just about everything in the car and went to their room to sleep. But Monson’s girlfriend said she woke up feeling like something was wrong.

“(I) was hoping for the best when I woke up, but that wasn’t the case,” Kylee Roberts said.

Just hours after they’d left it, the vehicle was gone. The only thing left behind was this little pouch here that held his watch.

“So as soon as I saw that I immediately called the police,” Monson said.

Police did find the UHaul about 5 blocks from the motel off of Kearny and Ford streets. But none of the officer’s belongings were inside.

“We are working on some investigative leads but nothing that’s really good. We are hoping that Facebook and this story will actually help make it more known to people so we can hopefully recover that property as well,” Lt. Saul Gonzales said.

Watsonville police posted pictures of a 2010 gray Toyota Tacoma and 2008 red and silver Honda motorcycle on their Facebook page so the public can keep an eye out. Meantime, police have asked Monson to stay in town for few days, hoping some of what was taken will show up.

“I don’t even have words to describe it. It’s just anger,” Monson said.

But he’s doing his best to stay positive.

“I’m just thankful that myself and my girlfriend Kylie weren’t harmed. We weren’t in the vehicle (so) nothing happened to us,” Monson said.