With the help of an alert neighbor, one man is learning the hard lesson of what happens when you return to the scene of a crime.
Phoenix police report that a man, identified as 22-year-old Omar Ariel Peres Aviles, was seen allegedly hopping the backyard fence of a home near 36th Street and McDowell Road.
The person who saw him hop the fence later heard breaking glass at the home. As Aviles came out of the front door, he was confronted by the witness who asked him if he lived there. Aviles then went back inside the house, and the witness called police.
When police arrived, Aviles had already left the house.
Police found several items including jewelry stacked by the front door. The residents of the home identified those items as their own. They also reported to police that their bedroom was ransacked and several items were stolen, including a handgun.
Police say that around 6:45 p.m., about 90 minutes after the crime was committed, the same witness spotted Aviles in the alley behind the house he reportedly burglarized.
Police located and arrested Aviles who told police that he was randomly knocking on doors in the neighborhood looking for a friend.
He has been charged with burglary.