Corona, CA: Citizen’s Reports Lead to Arrest of Probationer for Residential Burglary and Car Theft

On Sunday, December 9, 2012, just after 12:30 p.m., Irvine Officers arrested Tony Angulo Jr. (5-9-80) of Riverside County for auto theft, multiple thefts from vehicles and residential burglary after a foot pursuit in the Turtle Ridge area of Irvine.

The first call of a suspicious subject came from a community member at about 9:30 a.m., who noticed Angulo walking in and around vehicles parked in a church parking lot. In addition to calling the police, she started her car and made eye contact with the subject, prompting him to walk away from the area. Just over an hour later, officers responded to the Turtle Ridge Apartments where a small amount of cash had been stolen from an unlocked vehicle. While taking that report, a second victim approached the officer and explained that he too had been a victim of theft from his vehicle. His phone was stolen and he had just tracked it using the “Find My Droid” application. As the man was giving the officer Angulo’s description, they spotted him. Angulo fled into a nearby marsh, but ultimately was caught by officers and taken into custody without incident.

After the arrest, officers recovered a small amount of cash as well as a purse and iPad stolen from a third victim’s vehicle.

At the time of his arrest, Angulo was wearing a jacket that was missing from a stolen Honda. That vehicle was reported stolen on 12-8-2012 from Corona and was recovered near where the thefts occurred. During the investigation, an additional report for residential burglary was taken in the apartment complex. In that case, a child’s bicycle had been stolen from a closed garage. When the officer arrived, the 5-year-old boy had already put up a “MISSING” poster on his garage. Further investigation linked Angulo to that burglary and officers were able to recover and return the stolen bike to the boy.

Angulo was booked into the Orange County Jail where he is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.