North San Juan, Calif. December 28, 2023 – A Christmas morning burglary of construction tools from a contractor’s storage container on a property on Almora Road was reported to Nevada County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO) at approximately 8:30 am, 12/25/2023. By the end of Christmas day, thanks to some excellent investigative work by patrol deputies in partnership with cooperative victims, one suspect, identified as 32-year-old Dustin Million Jr. of Camptonville, was arrested for burglary and the vehicle used in the crime was impounded. Additionally, thousands of dollars’ worth of the victims’ stolen tools were located and recovered from a Nevada City residence where the stolen property was allegedly sold. A second burglary suspect and three other conspirators in this case have been identified and referred to the District Attorney for consideration of additional charges, including the persons involved in the purchase and possession of the stolen items.
NCSO deputies assigned to the N. San Juan area of the county had been working with the victim after an earlier burglary to the same location was reported in November. Following last month’s advice from deputies to install video surveillance, inventory their property, record serial numbers and/or identify their tools with unique markings, the victims followed through with proactive actions that ultimately assisted deputies in identifying suspects and recovering much of the victims’ stolen property.
The suspect vehicle was captured on video surveillance leaving the scene of the burglary with a pickup bed full of stolen property, and several deputies recognized the driver, identified as Dustin Million, from prior contacts. Additional investigation led to the identification of a passenger with Million, 41-year-old Steven Lillis of N. San Juan. Deputies issued a “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) for the suspect vehicle to local law enforcement, and at approximately 9:45 pm Christmas night, a Nevada City police officer located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop on Hwy 49 in Nevada City. Deputies heard the call on the dispatch radio and responded immediately to assist. Million was driving and Lillis was the passenger. Million was wearing the same clothing as depicted in the surveillance video from the burglary and was in possession of a check made out to him for $2,000 with “tools” written on the memo. An inventory search of the suspect revealed stolen property from this burglary, and mail believed to be stolen from additional victims.
Further investigation led deputies to a property on Holly Davo Place in Grass Valley, where a probation search of the residence was conducted just after midnight on 12/26/2023. The search led to the discovery of additional stolen property identified as the victims, located in a storage container on the property.
Dustin Million was booked into the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility on 12/25/2023 for Burglary and Possession of Stolen Property, with a bail of $50,000. He remains in custody as of 12/28/2023.
