Danville burglar caught in underwear after eluding police for hours

DANVILLE, Calif. - A couple in Danville was awakened by an armed intruder armed in their bedroom.

Surveillance video caught a man with a dog around 4:30 a.m. Sunday outside a house on Alexander Lane.

The man used a knife to cut off a doorbell camera. He eventually entered the house.

One of the victims told KTVU that they were roused by the man, shining a flashlight and claiming to be from an alarm company.

The husband confronted the man, who threw his knife down in their doorway and chased the intruder away. The couple later discovered he had loaded up tools and soda from their garage and put it in their SUV, apparently hoping to make a quick getaway.

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The couple found a message penned in Sharpie on the kitchen counter: "Do not call police. Do not panic."

But the couple did call the police. Officers chased him but lost him in a nearby shopping center.

"Definitely unsettling and concerning. It’s not the sort of thing that happens in this neighborhood," said Steve Smith, awoken by the police activity.

The Danville Police Department, with assistance from the Contra Costa County sheriff's helicopter and a K-9 unit, conducted a search.

"When the helicopter started circling for a really long time, that’s when we shut the windows and made sure the garage door was closed," said Shannon Mundelius, who lives nearby.

Tips from neighbors near Las Trampas Wilderness Preserve led to the suspect's discovery nine hours later.

Clayton Mackay, 26, was spotted by the sheriff's helicopter in pink underwear and no shoes on Camino Encanto, two miles from the initial break-in.

Mackay was arrested and booked into Contra Costa County Jail on multiple felony charges, with his bail at $350,000.

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan