A man who allegedly stole high-end guitars and violins to stock his own music store -- including $150,000 worth of instruments burgled from stores in Palo Alto, Mountain View and five other cities -- has been arrested in Ceres, Calif., police announced Wednesday night.

Officers searched the man's music store in Delano and recovered many of the guitars, plus others stolen from stores in San Carlos, San Jose, Livermore, Dublin and Reno, Nev., Palo Alto police Sergeant Sandra Brown said.

The Palo Alto theft occurred Aug. 5, when the Peninsula Music Store at 4333 El Camino Real was broken into overnight and 25 high-quality guitars, valued at about $44,000, were taken, Brown said.

After a month-long joint investigation with officers from the other cities, detectives developed a prime suspect: Dennis Martin Lloyd II, 36, of MacFarland, Calif., she said.

Palo Alto detectives located and arrested Lloyd in Ceres on Sept. 27, and learned of his plan to open his own store during his arrest, Brown said.

A search of his store in Delano turned up about $100,000 in guitars and violins, including most of those stolen from the stores from the seven cities.

The recovered instruments were worth about $150,000 total, Brown said.

Lloyd was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose and charged with three counts of burglary and one count of conspiracy to commit burglary relating to the Palo Alto thefts, Brown said. Additional charges are pending from the other cities, she said.

— Palo Alto Weekly staff

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