Transient Accused Of Breaking Into Petaluma Business: Police

PETALUMA, CA — A transient was arrested Sunday night as a suspect in a Saturday burglary of a Petaluma landscaping business, police said. Police were called at about 11:30 a.m. Sunday by employees of a landscaping firm based in the 800 block of North McDowell Boulevard about a burglary there.

Surveillance video showed a man came on the property about 6 p.m. Saturday and forced his way into one storage shed, entered the beds and trailers of work trucks, and removed landscaping-related equipment. The suspect returned at about 11 a.m. Sunday and removed equipment from a storage shed. Altogether, the lost items were valued at about $3,000, police said.

Officers saw a man looking like the one in the surveillance video at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, and apprehended him after a short foot chase.

Wayne Allen Roberts, a 58-year-old transient from San Diego, was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of burglary and grand theft.

The items reported stolen over the weekend have not yet been retrieved, police said.

Petaluma has experienced an increase in power equipment thefts, both from secured buildings and vehicles. Police will investigate whether Roberts may be connected to other recent thefts.

— Bay City News Service