El Cerrito home burglary prompts school lockdown; 2 arrested
El Cerrito police arrested two suspects in an alleged residential burglary that prompted the lockdown of a nearby school in the city Thursday afternoon.
Around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, officers were alerted to a report of a residential burglary in the 2000 block of Tapscott Avenue. Upon arrival, they saw that there was forced entry into a house and two suspects were inside, police said.
Due to the situation, officers advised officials of the nearby Prospect Sierra School and requested that they lock down the campus for safety.
With help from officers from the Richmond and Kensington police departments, El Cerrito officers called out to the suspects through a broken window after seeing them moving inside the home. Police said the suspects tried to escape through the back of the house but were stopped by officers, so they retreated inside.
After numerous times urging the suspects to come outside, officers forced entry into the residence, and with the help of a police K-9, the suspects were taken into custody. Police said they recovered a firearm near the front door of the house.
The two suspects, a man and a woman from Nevada, were taken to a hospital for treatment before being booked into the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez.
There were no further details about the suspects immediately available.