In a bold game of hide-and-seek with police searching for them with helicopters, canine search teams and squads of officers literally beating the brush for a glimpse of them – two determined burglars stayed within three active police perimeters and ransacked a home while police closed in Tuesday.
The pair, part of a three-man crew believed responsible for a daylight burglary in Danville earlier that day, eventually managed to evade their pursuers, police said Thursday, and got away.
The Danville crime was reported in an earlier story on this site, with a citizen alerting Lafayette police to the presence of a car cruising slowly through neighborhoods near Bentley School that day.
Upon the arrival of officers, the vehicle was located and found to be occupied by a single subject, according to Lafayette police. A records check showed the man inside to be on probation and with a history of burglary charges. An officer examining the interior of the vehicle spotted burglary tools in plain view within the vehicle while a second officer recognized the car as one matching the description of a vehicle used in the Danville crime earlier in the day.
Police established a perimeter to contain the subjects and initiated a search for them. A canine from the Sheriff’s Office and the Sheriff’s Helicopter was brought in to aid in the search but the subjects were not located and officers returned to their normal duties, according to police.
At 6:18 p.m., Sheriff’s Dispatch received a telephone call from a resident who reported seeing a pair of strangers in their rear yard on Los Arabis Drive. Once again, Lamorinda police responded to the area and established a perimeter to contain the suspects. Again assisted by the Sheriff’s Helicopter, officers conducted a ground search for the subjects but, once again, were unable to locate the subjects. Officers remained in the area to watch for the suspects while other officers returned to their normal duties.
At 7:06 p.m., Sheriff’s Dispatch was advised by a resident from the 1000 Block of Rahara Drive that they had just arrived home and found two subjects running with bags from their home. The subjects had entered the home through an unlocked rear door, finding the home empty and ransacking it, collecting items of electronics and several sets of car keys. The suspects were interrupted by the arrival of the homeowner, police said. For the third time that day, a perimeter was established with the assistance of Lamorinda police agencies, the Sheriff’s helicopter and several police canines but, once again, the two burglars eluded capture.
Keystone Cops
We’re sure the local PDs don’t want/need us defending them but we can say from experience that they were working hard to catch these guys that day and that trying to find someone who doesn’t want to be found is harder than Tommy Lee Jones makes it look in The Fugitive.
Pretty ballsy. did they steal a car to get out of the area??
Sounds like they have done this before and aren’t afraid of the police or jail. And that’s not good.
Scary. I don’t know what I’d do if I came home and found men hiding in my back yard!!!
If they are not afriad ofthe police you have to wonder what they ARE afraid of?
The two suspects must have been wearing their invisibility cloaks! They’ll be back and caught!
If they can’t escape with their bulky loot, I assume they fit what they can in a nondescript backpack and walk to BART for the trip home….