Charges dropped against two accused of stealing FBI agent’s gun in Lafayette

SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors in the Bay Area have thrown out charges against two Bay Area men who’d already pleaded guilty to stealing an FBI agent’s gun and ID from a car parked in Lafayette.

Last month, prosecutors moved to dismiss theft of government property charges against Marvin Raul Guerra and Jose Ochoa Gutierrez based on their “successfully completing the diversion program,” court records show.

Guerra and Gutierrez were charged last year with a crime that carries up to a 10-year prison term. Prosecutors say they were breaking into cars in Lafayette on Feb. 20, 2021 when they took a backpack belonging to an FBI agent. When they discovered its contents they got scared and threw the gun out the window of their moving car, according to authorities.

Despite failing to recover the gun and identification, investigations were able to locate the agent’s chocolate and sea salt-flavored protein bars that were taken during the break-in, court records show.

The burglary occurred around 5 p.m. while the agent and his wife were eating dinner in downtown Lafayette. The agent’s wife and at least one other person witnessed it but were unable to stop the suspects, according to authorities.

Guerra and Gutierrez were identified, arrested, and released from jail within days of the break-in. They qualified for diversion based on their young age — both men were 18 when they were arrested — and lack of criminal history, according to court records.