There has been a recent spate of what are known as ‘hot prowl’ burglaries in Santa Clarita.
‘Hot prowl’ is the term given to a burglary (or an attempted burglary) that takes place while the owner of the home is currently at the residence.
This kind of crime can be particularly frightening to victims because it isn’t immediately clear whether or not the burglar is there for the victim’s possessions or for the victims themselves.
Shortly before Christmas, a Valencia resident living near Granary Square was awoken by one of the alarm systems in place around his home. Checking the gate to the side of his house, he noticed that it was opened and that a young man was standing in the yard. Just then, the resident’s wife notified him that there was someone else, this time a female, in the backyard attempting to break in.
The next step for the victim was to run inside the house and grab his gun. Upon returning to the outside of the home, the victim held the male suspect at gun point few moments before deciding to head back inside and call the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Department.
On January 3rd, another ‘hot prowl’ burglary was reported in the unincorporated area of the Santa Clarita Valley.
During this instance, the victim was upstairs cleaning when the break-in occurred. Upon hearing sounds coming from her kitchen, the victim descended the stairs to discover two suspects who then ran out of the house with her purse.
The victim pursued the suspects into the front yard where she was able to wrest her purse from one of them. As the suspects fled, the victim was able to use her cell phone to take a picture of their license plate, which the police used to identify at least one of the suspects.
While burglaries in the Santa Clarita Valley are up 5% from last year, Captain Paul Becker insists that ‘hot prowl’ burglaries in particular are not on the rise, and no trends have yet been identified.
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