Manhunts Ends With Police Dog Dragging Suspected Serial Burglar

LOS ANGELES, CA — A days-long manhunt ended with a suspected serial burglar in custody Thursday morning after a police dog dragged him out of the bushes in Shadow Hills near Hansen Dam.

Benjamin Renteria, 25, the subject of an intense manhunt since Monday, was arrested Wednesday night, near Wheatland Avenue and Wentworth Street, the LAPD reported. He was booked on suspicion of felony burglary and was held on $240,000 bail.

Renteria is suspected in a series of burglaries in the San Fernando Valley and Shadow Hills area, according to police. On Monday, a SWAT Team and K-9 units were called in to search for him after he was spotted near the Green Verdugo Reservoir in close proximity to the Foothill (210) Freeway on property owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He eluded a police perimeter and ran into the surrounding hills.

Late Wednesday night, a police dog made contact with Renteria in an area with heavy vegetation and began dragging him by the arm before officers arrived to take him into custody. The wanted man had been seen earlier crawling through brush in the area as he sought to evade police.

Detectives believe Renteria is the same man captured on on surveillance cameras multiple times armed with a rifle. Though none of the burglaries he is suspected of have involved violence, authorities were worried about the possibility that he could become violent due to the fact that he was often seen carrying guns and rifles.

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In one incident, the man pointed a gun at a security guard but did not fire the weapon, LAPD Sgt. Eddie Gutierrez told KTLA5 on Tuesday.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.