Suspected Burglar Returns To Orinda – Regrets It; And Then There’s That Guy In The Stolen Car…

Two people – including one immortalized on a home surveillance camera that caught him raiding a local home earlier this year – visited Orinda Wednesday and probably wish they hadn’t.

Police Chief Mark Nagel confirmed that his officers made at least two arrests in the city today, Wednesday, one of which just happened to involve a recently installed license plate scanner system while the other involved a man captured on surveillance cameras when he burglarized an Orinda home with a companion earlier this year.

Nagel told NEWS24/680 that the unmasked man seen in the accompanying video was arrested when he and a crew of suspected burglars returned to the area, allegedly approaching homes in the city and asking for “directions.”

The chief said a local resident reported a female subject had knocked on their door and asked how to get to the freeway. The resident told police the woman left in a gray Hyundai with other occupants – described as a black male and another male wearing a Santa Claus hat.

Officers spotted the Hyundai at the intersection of Las Vegas and La Espiral, Nagel said, and noted that the car was driven by one man while another was in the rear passenger seat – wearing a Santa Claus hat. The Hyundai turned onto St. Stephens, where officers made a traffic enforcement stop for a broken taillight, according to the chief. 

Beat officers recognized the rear passenger as Marzett Parker, 24, hometown not given, who was wanted on at least three outstanding warrants for burglary and robbery, Nagel said. Officers also recognized Parker from home video surveillance taken during the residential burglary in Orinda on Dec. 1.

Parker was placed under arrest and transported to the Orinda Police station. He was ultimately booked on outstanding warrants and for the Dec. 1 burglary, according to the chief.

The Chief also Wednesday confirmed the arrest of a suspect in connection with a stolen car detected by the city’s new Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) system.

Apparently an OPD officer was on routine patrol when his car-mounted reader indicated a “hit” and the officer, with help, undertook an armed stop of the suspect car at Camino Pablo and Manzanita Drive.

The name and hometown of the man arrested while driving the stolen car Wednesday was not immediately available.