Witness Tip Helps Cerritos Sheriff’s Deputies Put Another Residential Burglar Behind Bars

The ’s Special Assignment Team captured a burglary suspect on Thursday afternoon just a few hours after he and at least one other suspect were spotted stealing high-end designer luggage from a Cerritos home.

Deputies from the Special Assignment Team responded to a report of suspicious activity at a single-family residence in the 19000 block of Allingham Avenue about 10:20 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, said sheriff’s Lt. Allen Castellano.

A neighbor in the area reported seeing at least two men leaving the burglarized residence with two large Louis Vuitton style duffel bags along with other items. The witness also provided deputies with the license plate number of the vehicle they fled in, the lieutenant said.

“The deputies worked with the info they received and discovered who the registered owner of the vehicle was and who was driving it,” he said.

Within about two hours, the special assignment team tracked down the getaway vehicle in the Lakewood area and initiated a traffic stop, Castellano said.

Some of the stolen property was found inside the vehicle, including the two bags with luggage tags bearing the victim’s name.

Deputies immediately arrested the motorist, an Asian man in his 20s, whose name was being withheld as units were still trying to locate at least one or two other suspects involved in the break-in, sheriff’s Sgt. Joe Quire said.

Castellano said it was not immediately clear what other items had been taken from the home, which had been ransacked by the burglars. 

Witness Tips Continue to Help Deputies Combat the City's Burglary Problem

Thursday’s arrest marks the third time since last weekend that deputies have captured a Cerritos burglary suspect with the help of information provided by a witness or victim.

“It goes to show that even with the little bit of info the witness was able to provide, it linked us to all of this,” Castellano said, referring to the most recent arrest and ongoing investigation into the outstanding suspects. “This is the message we’ve been trying to get to folks. With a simple license plate number we were able to locate them (the suspects) in a quick return time – that’s exactly what we’re shooting for.“

On Saturday, Oct. 29, . Deputies were able to capture the two burglars with the help of information provided by the victim. 

“The eyes and ears of the community play a major role in us doing our job,” said Castellano. “We don’t want anyone to ever confront somebody, because that’s our job to confront them – but if you get us any info, then we can do our job."

, residents are urged to at all times observe the activities in their neighborhood and report any suspicious activity, vehicle, person or strange noise to the Cerritos Sheriff's Station by calling (562) 860-0044. To report an emergency or a crime in progress, residents should call 911.

Additional crime prevention tips are available on the City’s Safer Cerritos website at safercerritos.com.