2 arrested after Pleasant Hill homeowner chases suspects in burglary attempt
PLEASANT HILL, Calif. (KTVU) - Two men were arrested by police after an interrupted burglary in Pleasant Hill and police believe the suspects are part of a group tied to similar incidents around the Bay Area.
Home surveillance video captured how it all started Tuesday morning around 7:30 a.m. A suspect wearing a "Kappa" sweatshirt and track pants can be seen repeatedly knocking at the door of a home in the "Poet's Corner" neighborhood.
Homeowner Debbie Brose said she heard the knocks.
"I didn't want to answer. I was doing my bible study," Brose said.
When no one answered the door, a man wearing red shoes, kicked open the front door of the home on Poshard Street. Video shows him going inside first, then three other men follow. All of the suspects were wearing masks.
"Nobody answered the door, they assumed nobody was home and kicked the door several times, forcing it in," said Pleasant Hill Police Lieutenant Scott Vermillion.
Brose said she heard a loud noise and a bunch of commotion.
"And I actually thought that it was my kid, one of my kids coming back from school," she said.
When she went to see what was going on, she came face to face with the strangers in her home.
"They entered very fast, ran in very fast you know. Grabbed as much as they could. We did surprise them," Brose said.
They were surprised not only by Brose but her husband.
"I looked and didn't identify the person and yelled 'robbers!' And my husband ran out of the bathroom," she recalled.
Video shows the intruders running out of the house with her husband in hot pursuit.
The four suspects jumped into a Nissan Pathfinder.
Brose's husband grabbed one of them, but let go after they tried to run him over.
Police said two of the four suspects were arrested. Authorities believe the same crew broke into a nearby home and cased others by ringing the doorbell or knocking to see if anyone was home.
"We believe they're happening in the daytime because the suspects are targeting residences that they believe the homeowners have left for work," Litenutant Vermillion said.
The man seen on video knocking on the door of the home on Poshard Street is the same suspect who approached a home in Walnut Creek 30 minutes before.
He knocked on the door and when the residents answered, asked if they had seen his lost dog.
Police warn that if someone shows up at your home, if at all possible, make your presence known without opening the door.
Officers are still searching for the other two suspects involved in the burglary.
Investigators believe the four suspects could be linked to similar crimes throughout the East Bay and as far south as Milpitas and San Jose.