Sleeping woman wakes to find robber inside her Santa Ana home then he steals her car

A woman was sleeping on her living room couch early Thursday, April 18, when she was awakened by a man who broke into her home and later fled in her car, Santa Ana police said.

It was around 5 a.m. when officers were called to the home in the 900 block of West Riviera Drive. Shortly before, the victim had been sleeping when she was woken up and confronted by the suspect.

She tried to get away from the man but he hit her with a chair.

“The suspect then grabbed the victim by the throat and demanded her vehicle keys,” police said in a bulletin.

She handed him the keys and he is seen on home surveillance video exiting the front door.

He approached a pickup truck in the driveway and tried to open it with the keys, but failed. He then went to another vehicle parked on the street and managed to drive it away.

The California Highway Patrol found the vehicle crashed into a center divider of the 5 Freeway at Main Street and reported that the man had fled on foot. CHP officers searched the area for the suspect but couldn’t find him. He remained at large on Thursday afternoon.

Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect is asked to contact Robbery Detective Duane Greaver at 714-245-8362.