Police Arrest 2 Doorbell Burglars; Surveillance Video IDs Suspects

Two 19-year-old men were arrested on suspicion of attempting to burglarize several homes in Hercules this morning, police said.

Officers arrested Hercules resident Travell Warren and Oakland resident Ronnell Kent on suspicion of residential burglary, attempted burglary, and violation of probation, according to police.

Both Warren and Kent were on probation for prior theft charges, police said.

Officers were called to the 2200 block of Pheasant Drive around 9 a.m. on a report of an attempted residential burglary that had just occurred. The victim told police two men tried to enter his house from an upstairs balcony, but he yelled at them and they jumped off the balcony and then ran out of the backyard through a side gate.

The two men then got into a white minivan and drove south on Pheasant Drive towards Turquoise Drive, police said.

An officer spotted a white Plymouth Voyager parked outside of a house on Emerald Way and found the side garage door ajar with fresh pry marks and a broken door clasp, according to police. Police said the door leading into the house was closed but also showed signs of pry marks.

An officer saw two men -- later identified as Warren and Kent -- matching a description of the suspects and officers detained them, police said. Both admitted to driving in the Voyager but police said when the victim was called to identify the suspects, he couldn’t positively identify them.

Around 9:30 a.m., a resident from the 100 block of Falcon Way also reported an attempted burglary, which had occurred roughly an hour earlier, police said.

The victim of the Falcon Way attempted burglary told police he had video surveillance footage of the suspects and then positively identified Warren and Kent as the suspects, according to police.

Police said in both cases, the victims reported hearing the doorbell ring but neither victim answered the door prior to the attempted burglaries.

--Bay City News; Image via Patch Archive