Police say suspects used traffic cones to pose as workers while they burglarized homes in Glendale.
According to police, the suspects would place traffic cones in front of a home to appear to be workers before allegedly using a crowbar to break into homes near 47th and Olive Avenues on November 16.
Police say two suspects broke into homes, while a third waited in a black Dodge Ram truck. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene once officers arrived, leaving the two remaining suspects behind.
Reports show that at least $3,000 worth of electronics were stolen from one home, and the burglars were scared off from two others homes by dogs in the backyard.
Police identified the two as 34-year-old Jason Xavier Muniz and 18-year-old Emmanuel Gonzales.
With the help of neighbors, police were able to locate and arrest Muniz and Gonzales. Police say they have been charged with multiple counts of burglary-related charges.
Katrina Andrews is among the victims and said that the burglars hopped her gate, broke through her back door, grabbed televisions, computers, stereo equipment, tools, and walked out the front door.
It was her teen daughter who discovered the burglary after school and found the front door open.
"What scared me the most is knowing my daughter could've been here, and then they went to a second house and somebody's daughter was there," Andrews said.
Crowbar marks were found at two other homes and the tool was dropped by the suspects and found by police. Andrews recognized it as her own.
"It was from our house. They took tools from the garage and then used them at the next house." Andrews said.
Andrews also found tire marks in her driveway left by the burglars. After hearing the truck description and about the traffic cones, she remembered spotting the truck in the neighborhood multiple times before the crimes—she had previously assumed that it was a neighbor's friend.
"So they've been casing the neighborhood for weeks, for weeks. And that's terrifying to know someone had been watching your every move for weeks,” Andrews said.
