[VIDEO] Phone Photo Helps Nab Residential Burglary Suspects

A multi-agency effort and help from a Diamond Bar resident put two La Puente men suspected of a string of residential burglaries throughout the San Gabriel Valley behind bars last week.

Officials said Wednesday that the suspects were arrested at a Baldwin Park motel on May 11 by police in that city, who were aided by a camera phone photograph taken by a witness of a May 8 burglary at a home in Diamond Bar.

Capt. David Halm of the said the remaining property does not match any currently open burglary cases in Walnut and Diamond Bar and property has been returned to the victims of the May 8 burglary in Diamond Bar.

"We matched all of the property against our reported burglaries here, so we can confirm that it's not ours," Halm said.

Sheriff's detectives said the suspected thieves were found to be operating in the cities of Diamond Bar, Pomona, La Puente, West Covina, Rowland Heights, and Baldwin Park.

A cache of recovered items was on display Wednesday in an effort to identify the rightful owners of the property still in possession at the Walnut/Diamond Bar station. 

Around 1:45 p.m. Wedesday, one burglary victim — Michael Castillo of Covina — arrived at the station to reclaim a backpack and camera that he reported stolen from his home on April 30.

Castillo said the suspects had also stolen a laptop computer and a handgun from his home, which were not on display alongside the other property Wednesday.

Castillo said the suspects were outside of his home when he returned one evening around 10:30 p.m. and he had a strange feeling, seeing the suspects' vehicle, that something was wrong.

He discovered the burglary after entering his home that evening.

Diamond Bar Assistant City Manager David Doyle said Wednesday that the city urges residents to report any suspicious neighborhood activity to the sheriff's department as a way to help curb residential burglaries.

"Many times we'll find that a neighbor reported seeing something suspicious but did not report it," Doyle said, "and that's the most important thing to do."

Doyle said that recent residential burglaries in Diamond Bar did not appear to target any specific area or neighborhood, but that many of the reported burglaries involved a knock on the door from an unknown person.

Detective Steve Katz also encouraged residents to form relationships with neighbors and report any suspicious activity to sheriff's deputies at the Walnut/Diamond Bar station at (909) 595-2264.

Katz said the two suspects were found to have frequented motels, staying at the Shilo Inn on Temple Avenue in Pomona for a period of time. Detective Derek Coleman said the suspects — Johnny Martin Lopez and Andrew James Lucero — were interested in pawning the stolen goods to purchase drugs.