Burglar Caught Red-Handed
Woman Arrives Home to Find Repeat Offender in Hallway
A 51-year-old woman living on Juanita Avenue was surprised when, upon returning home Friday afternoon, she found a strange man in her bedroom hallway. When she asked the man, 41-year-old Celedonio Aguirre, what he was doing, he said he was “looking for his pet.”
Aguirre then fled the scene with $1,000 worth of jewelry and coins he had stolen from the home, said Santa Barbara police. When the SBPD was called, property crimes detective John Ingram responded and searched for the suspect. Ingram recognized Aguirre, who had been arrested for a string of burglaries last year and matched the description given by the victim. Upon being stopped by the detective, Aguirre said, “I should not have gone into that lady’s house,” police relayed.
Ingram arrested Aguirre and recovered the stolen property. Later, the victim positively identified Aguirre in a live lineup, and he was booked into County Jail on $50,000 bail.
