21 charged in Bay Area car burglary ring

In an earlier bust, assault rifles and large quantities of marijuana were seized by police in Oakland, Vallejo, Antioch and Sacramento from alleged members of the Ghost Town gang from West Oakland. In an earlier bust, assault rifles and large quantities of marijuana were seized by police in Oakland, Vallejo, Antioch and Sacramento from alleged members of the Ghost Town gang from West Oakland. Photo: Oakland Police Dept. Photo: Oakland Police Dept. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 21 charged in Bay Area car burglary ring 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

More than 20 people associated with a widespread Bay Area car burglary ring conducted by Oakland’s Ghost Town gang have been charged, a Santa Clara County District Attorney official announced Monday.

The group of 21 affiliates and members are facing vehicular burglary charges with gang allegations for allegedly stealing more than 50 cars in the past year, Deputy District Attorney Sandip Patel said. If convicted, they could face “substantial state prison sentences.”

“What’s exceptional here is the brazenness of their scheme and the scope of the conduct involved — there’s hardly a city in the entire Bay Area that this group didn’t hit,” Patel said in a statement.

In what officials called a “string of sophisticated auto break-ins,” the culprits reportedly targeted at least nine cities, including San Jose, Milpitas, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Los Altos and Mountain View.

A product of the West Oakland crack epidemic of the 1980s, the Ghost Town gang started as a drug-trafficking network, police said. It has become one of the city’s most active gangs as of late.

Prosecutors allege the gang associates rented cars to stake out shopping malls including the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto and McCarthy Ranch in Milpitas. In small groups, they would hit cars with electronic devices like iPads, iPhones, laptops, and other items they could easily resell.

It’s suspected they stole hundreds of the devices over the course of the spree, Patel said.

One of the men, 31-year-old Danny Garcia, is facing attempted murder charges after he allegedly tried to run over a Santa Clara police officer who was arresting him.

Also in the group is Michael A. Jones, a 23-year-old who had been arrested and charged with involvement in the robbery of KTVU and KNTV crews at gunpoint in July while they reported on the slaying of Kathryn Steinle at Pier 14 in San Francisco.

Jones had been charged with robbery, aggravated assault, grand theft and conspiracy in that incident.

Eleven of the car theft suspects are in custody, including Garcia and Jones.

The others have been identified as Steven Espadron, 32, Jawon Finch, 30, Joey Haines, 31, Ricky Joseph, 27, Deante Menefee, 27, Eddie Nute, 21, Sitteruiet Taylor, 36, Lamont Williams, 26, and Exrill Wilson 32.

The in-custody suspects were arraigned at the Hall of Justice Monday afternoon. Ten suspects remain at large.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno