Police arrested three men and are searching for a fourth after several homes near downtown, tented for fumigation, were the target of burglaries early Monday morning.
A dozen homes along Columbia Street in Middletown were tented for termites when the San Diego Police Department received a call of a break-in at 3:11 a.m.
Pete Beslow lives in one of these 12 condos, and though his home wasn’t burgled, he said, “It’s a local problem.”
One of Beslow’s neighbors had a security system that caught the suspected burglars in the act.
“Must have gone off or something, ‘cause (the police) got those kids pretty quickly,” Beslow told NBC 7.
Authorities identified the suspects as Joseph Ryan House, 19; Jose Angel Quintana, 20; and Jaylen Edward Brown, 22.
A fourth man was seen in the neighborhood wearing a white sweatshirt.
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The suspects allegedly took jewelry, cash, and important papers.
“(The burglars) went through everything. The neighbor picked this up for me when it came in the mail,” Beslow said, gesturing to an empty package. “It came from Europe. It was Cuban cigars. I mean, these kids just ripped everything up they were looking for and took what they want. End of story.”
Beslow’s neighbor collected his package of cigars for him. When the suspected robbers broke into his neighbor’s home, Beslow said they went into his neighbor’s closet and ripped up his package.
“They stole thousands of dollars’ worth of things. I should’ve known at that point and put a camera up,” Beslow said. “We’re lucky if that’s the worst that happened.”
Now, Beslow and other residents in the area said they will take extra measures to secure their homes, like setting up security cameras.
“It’s really sad,” Beslow said. “I feel really bad for (my neighbors).”
House, Quintana, and Brown are scheduled to be arraigned in court this week, answering to charges of burglary and vandalism.
