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Woman awakens to burglar in her home in Lake Forest; he tries to hide from deputies by breaking into other homes

by in News

A Lake Forest woman awoke to find a man inside her home Tuesday morning, July 24, with the suspect then fleeing and trying to elude deputies by entering other homes.

It was about 7:45 a.m. when the woman reported that the suspect, who was carrying a bag, had broken into her home, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Carrie Braun.

He fled from her home, in the area of Via del Rio and Vista Serrano, and took off toward the Serrano Creek area.  A sheriff’s helicopter searched for the suspect from overhead.

Dispatchers kept getting calls from the residents reporting that someone was trying to break into their home.

“(The suspect) entered a house saying that the cops were looking for him and he was trying to hide,” Braun said. “Apparently at some point he tried to change his appearance. … He found a cowboy hat and put that on.”

Rancho Canada Elementary School was put on lockdown; though classes are out for the summer, the campus was hosting daycare.

Deputies followed the calls that were received about the suspect and searched with patrol and canine units.

They found the suspect at about 9:45 a.m. at Serrano Road and Lake Forest Drive near Heritage Hill Park.

He was booked on suspicion of residential home burglary. No weapon was found on the suspect; investigators were trying to determine if he took any property from the home where he was first reported.

“We really received a high volume of calls from the community that saw the suspect and reporting the locations to our deputies,” Braun said. “It helped.”