Moss Landing man found guilty of stealing from field laborers

A Moss Landing man was found guilty of stealing from field laborers near Castroville.

On March 2, 54-year-old Jesse Anthony Sanchez went to a strawberry farm north of Castrovile. While the farm workers were going into the fields away from their parking area, Sanchez drove onto the property and started rummaging through their vehicles. He also taunted the workers by yelling at them from the parking area and broke door handles off a vehicle he could not get access to. Sanchez left the scene before the laborers could go back from the fields to confront him.

Sanchez later returned to the farm and took several items from parked vehicles. That time, he was caught by the vehicle owners who were closer than he realized. Sanchez threw a full soda can that was stolen from a worker’s lunch at the person who confronted him, hitting them in the shoulder. Sanchez left his car and ran before he was found and arrested by Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies.

Sanchez was convicted of one count of attempted auto burglary, one count of theft, one count of loitering and one count of battery. He will be sentenced in September and faces four years in prison.