A PASSERBY who saw two women peering into cars parked near the Soberanes Point trail on Highway 1 — the site of many break-ins during the past few months — took note of their black Saturn and its license plate number and notified the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Sunday morning.

Soon after, deputies arrested 23-year-old Monique Schmerber of Monterey and 42-year-old Shirley Garcia of Marina for vehicle burglary and possession of stolen property, according to Sgt. Scott Ragan.

“They are suspected of being involved in a whole lot of car burglaries down the coast,” said Ragan, who put the ballpark figure at 30 break-ins involving vehicles parked on Highway 1 at Andrew Molera State Park, Soberanes Point/Garrapata State Park and Point Lobos during the past four months. Several also occurred in Carmel Valley at Garland Ranch Regional Park, but Ragan was unsure whether the same suspects were to blame. All involved smashed windows.

The sheriff’s office was grateful for the break in the case Sept. 23. “We had a great witness at Soberanes who saw them acting suspicious enough that she wrote down the plate number and the vehicle description,” Ragan said.

A deputy headed south from the mouth of Carmel Valley, but the women had already left. He continued down Highway 1, found them driving northbound just south of Hurricane Point, and pulled them over.

As he spoke to the driver and her passenger, another vehicle burglary was reported at

Andrew Molera in which a portable CD player was taken.

According to Ragan, the player was found in the women’s car.

“And there were a bunch of gift cards from Safeway and a couple other stores, Target maybe, that had been purchased with stolen credit cards, and a digital camera and a pair of sunglasses from a car burglary weeks before,” he continued. The vehicle also contained clothing with tags still attached that deputies suspect was stolen. Investigators are working to determine from whom and where.

“That’s the time-consuming part,” Ragan said.

Schmerber is suspected of using stolen credit cards at several Peninsula business, including Longs and Safeway, according to Ragan, who said she could be seen on surveillance tape attempting to make purchases.

“We’re showing photo lineups of her to some of these businesses to see if they can positively identify her,” he said. “At least one clerk was able to.”

Considering the difficulty of obtaining physical evidence in car break-ins — when suspects often spot valuables inside smash windows, grab the goods and run, without leaving fingerprints behind — Ragan said the sheriff’s office has its work cut out for it. “But we are going to be able to tie them to several,” he said.

He also warned motorists, particularly hikers who leave their cars parked on the highway for hours at a time, that thieves are unfortunately ubiquitous.

“These women are definitely not the only ones doing this,” Ragan said. In fact, another burglary was reported at Molera which they could not have committed. “People park down there and go hiking. They’re easy pickings.”