Statue of Cal coach found mutilated

An $80,000 statue of a former University of California, Berkeley coach that was stolen in Oakland was recovered Saturday night in San Leandro, according to police.

The 300-pound bronze statue of Carroll Ebright, who coached Cal crew teams to three Olympic gold medals in the early 20th century, was reported stolen from a Cal boathouse at 2999 Glascock St., near Lake Merritt, on Jan. 12.

Then around 10:10 p.m. Saturday, San Leandro police officers patrolling in the 1100 block of Davis Street spotted a suspicious truck parked at a StorQuest Self Storage facility with part of the statue visible in the bed.

Officers went to the nearby residence of 46-year-old Dean Gamaza, a probationer who lives behind the parking lot where the vehicle was found, and discovered the head and feet of the statue in a 3-foot hole in the ground.

Offiers also found power tools, including a reciprocating saw, believed to have been used to cut the statue into pieces.

Gamaza was arrested and is currently being held without bail at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. His next court date is scheduled for 9 a.m.

Thursday at the Alameda County Superior Court in Hayward.