San Jose Contractor Caught on Camera Stealing: Police

MILLBRAE, CA – San Mateo County sheriff's officials have arrested a San Jose man on suspicion of stealing from a Peninsula woman while he worked in her home, the agency announced Wednesday.

The Millbrae woman tells police she let the man into her home to perform some repairs, but while he was there he did more than that — apparently looking through her personal belongings and ultimately stealing a bottle of perfume, according to Detective Salvador Zuno.

It all happened on Aug. 22 at a home on the 1300 block of Broadway in Millbrae, when the woman hired a general contractor to do some repair work in her kitchen and ceiling, the detective said.

"The work was to be done during the day, while she was at work," Zuno said in a news release. "She allowed the company’s employees to enter the home, but left explicit instructions that they were not allowed into any other areas of the home."

Later, when the woman reviewed some surveillance footage from inside her home, she allegedly spotted something troubling.

"After the project was finished, the homeowner was reviewing video footage and saw one employee enter her bedroom and go through her dresser drawers and laundry," Zuno said. "Subsequently, a bottle of perfume was discovered missing."

Marco Tulio Lopez, 42, was ultimately arrested in connection with the perfume theft, and the bottle was recovered, according to Zuno.

By Renee Schiavone, Patch; Booking photo courtesy of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office