A 12-year-old boy’s urgent 911 call Thursday led to the arrest of a man who allegedly broke into the child’s East Davis house while he was home alone.
The incident generated a massive police presence on Layton Drive, where police say the burglar knocked on the front door of the boy’s home at about 2:30 p.m. to determine whether anyone was inside.
“The boy did not answer the door or make any noise,” Lt. Paul Doroshov said. Moments later, the youth spotted a man in the back yard, headed for the house.
Doroshov said the boy grabbed a phone and ran into a bathroom, locking himself inside before calling 911. Meanwhile, the burglar forced his way through a side door leading into the garage and made his way into the house.
Officers responded to the house and surrounding neighborhood, arresting 37-year-old Kyle Frank of Placerville as he ran through nearby Slide Hill Park, Doroshov said. He allegedly was found in possession of property taken from the Layton Drive home.
It was unclear whether the suspect knew the boy had been at home during the burglary.
Doroshov said Frank also had items connecting him to an earlier break-in that day on Albany Avenue. He was lodged at the Yolo County Jail on suspicion of burglary.
Frank’s vehicle, a silver Dodge Dakota pickup, was found parked in the area of the Layton Drive burglary, Doroshov said.
Now, police are investigating whether Frank is responsible for any of the other 50-plus residential burglaries that have plagued Davis since the beginning of the year. Some have been preceded by door knocks or doorbell rings and led to confrontations when it turned out someone was inside the home.
“The style is definitely the same,” Doroshov said.
One of the earliest incidents, in February, involved another 12-year-old boy who called 911 from the bathroom of his Caravaggio Drive home in Wildhorse. A burglar who had rung the doorbell attempted to force his way inside the home after no one answered the door.
That suspect fled, apparently after hearing police sirens approaching the neighborhood.
Last week, a resident of Campanilla Court in Mace Ranch who did not answer her doorbell came downstairs to discover a man inside her home. The woman pushed the intruder out the door and called police, who searched the area but were unable to find the man.
Police say residents should let it be known they’re at home if someone comes knocking, even if they don’t open the door.
“Most burglars are there to get property” and prefer to avoid confrontations, Doroshov said last week. If you discover someone inside your home, “get out of the house, call 911 and let us deal with it as an emergency response.”
Doroshov said the Police Department is continuing to send additional patrols into neighborhoods in response to the rash of burglaries.
— Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected] or (530) 747-8048. Follow her on Twitter @laurenkeene