Crime & Safety

Residents Help Long Beach Police Arrest Burglars

Officers credit the alert by neighborhood with leading to four suspects.

Long Beach Police Department's Media Relations Office released the following details about a case in which residents played a role in their own community's defense from danger.

On Friday, February 24, 2012, at approximately 9:10 a.m., Long Beach Police were alerted to a suspicious vehicle in an alley near Pine Avenue and Roosevelt Street by a concerned resident, which police believe may have been occupied by four residential burglars who were ultimately arrested.

Before the vehicle left the alley, police observed that the trunk contained numerous items and believed a burglary may have been in progress.  As police attempted to catch up to the vehicle to conduct a traffic stop, the vehicle crashed into an apartment complex at Marshall Place and Virginia Road.  All four subjects in the vehicle, two males and two females, all fled from the vehicle on foot.  The females were observed boarding a public transit bus on Long Beach Boulevard.  The bus was stopped by police at Long Beach Boulevard and Bixby Road, and both females were detained.  Both male subjects fled westbound into the neighborhood.

A perimeter was immediately established, and K-9 and the department's Air Support Unit "Fox" responded to assist.  The Reverse 9-1-1 notification system was also utilized alerting nearby residents that a search for burglary suspects was underway.  After an approximately 90 minute search of the area, the suspects were not located, the perimeter was broken down, but units remained in the area.  Approximately 45 minutes later, a resident observed two male subjects flee his back yard and immediately contacted police.  Officers in the area observed the subjects fleeing and tracked them along the way over police radios.  One subject was apprehended in the area of Elm Avenue and Freeland Street, and the other in the 4300 block of Long Beach Boulevard.  All four suspects, whose ages ranged from 18 to 20, were booked for burglary.  One of the male suspects was from Long Beach, and the others resided outside of the city.

Burglary detectives, who also responded to the scene to begin their investigation, believe that these individuals may be responsible for other burglaries in the area and the investigation remains ongoing.  The suspect vehicle was impounded and loss found in the vehicle from one residential burglary was returned to the victim. 

The Long Beach Police Department would like to commend the residents who noticed suspicious activity taking place in the neighborhood and contacted police without hesitation. Their actions can be directly contributed to the arrest of four burglary suspect who may have otherwise gone undetected.

Any resident discovering that they have been a burglary victim should contact Long Beach Police Communications at (562) 435-6711 so an officer can be dispatched and a report taken.  Anyone who may have any information regarding this investigation should contact Burglary Detective Jose Yarruhs at (562) 570-7351.


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