Similar feel to 'hot prowl' burglaries

Yuba City police are warning residents to keep their garages, doors and windows locked after "hot prowl" burglaries of three occupied houses early Wednesday in the same area of the city.

Another home had been hit in September.

In one of the burglaries, a 4-year-old child may have been fondled, police said.

Aster Court resident Audrey Young's 42-year-old wedding ring was among the items taken when her home was burglarized Sept. 29.

"Everything else is just stuff," Young said. "But my wedding ring is what hurts me."

Young said she and her husband were home sleeping when she heard a noise around 2 a.m. Young said she sensed someone was in her home, and when she sat up in bed, a man ran out of her bedroom. She said she chased him down the hall and he left through an opened door.

The prowler entered through a back door the couple neglected to lock.

"It's quite unnerving; people getting desperate," she said of the prowler.

Young said the prowler also defecated outside her home and used an American flag to clean himself.

In the 34 years, she's lived in the neighborhood, Young said she's never experienced anything like this.

On Wednesday, police were notified of three other "hot prowl" instances.

At 1:22 a.m., a resident of the 1600 block of Tamarack Drive encountered a burglar leaving by the front door and chased him. The burglar, described as a 6-foot-tall male wearing dark clothes, entered through a door from the garage, said police spokeswoman Shawna Pavey.

The owner told officers he had left a garage door open so pets could come and go during the night, said Pavey.

Police surrounded the area of April Lane School, where the burglar was seen, and searched with K-9 teams, without result.

At 2:28 a.m., a woman who lives in the 1500 block of Clark Avenue returned from work and found her house had been ransacked while someone was home. That home had also been entered through a door leading to a garage, said Pavey.

The latest burglary was reported at 7 a.m. from the 1400 block of Upland Drive. The incident was still being investigated this morning, although entry to the house likely was through the garage, said Deputy Police Chief Jeff Webster.

Personal items from two of the houses were found at Upland Drive and Queens Avenue in a small park that police were treating as a crime scene.

“We’re certainly looking into” the possibility that all three burglaries were committed by the same person, said Pavey.

None of the victims reported seeing the burglar with a gun or other weapon.

Residents are urged to report suspicious activity to the Yuba City Police Department.

What to do if you find a burglar in your house:

• Call 911 if possible and stay on the phone until officers arrive.

• Try to avoid confronting the burglar and get to a safe place, either behind a locked door or outside the house.

• Let the burglar know that police have been called. Turning on lights or making noise might be enough to scare him away.

• The first goal should be the owner's personal safety.

• Chasing the burglar is not advised — that's risky even for police. But if you can, see which way he flees or get a description of his car.

Source: Yuba City Deputy Police Chief Jeff Webster