2 Burglars Caught at Scene Thanks to Neighbor's Call, Police Say

A 31-year-old woman and 46-year-old man, both of Richmond, were arrested outside an El Cerrito home Sunday morning after an alert neighbor called police about two suspicious people outside the home, police said.

The female suspect, whom police found hiding in bushes next to the house, was wearing jewelry that had been taken from the home, El Cerrito police Lt. Paul Keith told Patch Tuesday.

Neighbors of the home on the 6600 block of Gatto Avenue were on "high alert" Sunday because the same home was robbed just the day before, Keith said. The El Cerrito police blotter says the home was burglarized twice in the previous three days.

About 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, police received a call from a neighbor who reported two suspicious people prowling the home, Keith said. No one was home during the burglaries, he said.

Responding officers Sunday morning found the man walking from the backyard and the woman concealed in bushes, Keith said.

A neighbor quoted by the Arlington Neighbors email list said the thieves had put the owner's belongings in piles around the house, apparently to make it easier to cart them away.

The two suspects, identified by police as Puna Sasiu and and Anthony Dominguez, were booked for investigation of attempted burglary and possession of stolen property and taken to the county jail, Keith said.

Sasiu was arrested also on an outstanding warrant for a narcotics violation and for giving a false identity to police, Keith said. Dominguez was on probation for residential burglary, according to the police blotter.

Keith said the case illustrates a good lesson for residents in the city.

"This really can be a heads up about being alert and calling us, and knowing what's going on in their neighborhood and taking a proactive approach to it. We probably wouldn't have known what was going on in the neighborhood without the witness calling us." 

------------------------------

For other police-related news in El Cerrito, click "El Cerrito police" next to Related Topics below. For alerts to updates on future police-related articles, click Keep me posted.