2 Arrested After Attempted Burglary In Pleasanton
PLEASANTON (BCN) - Pleasanton police arrested two would-be thieves—one of whom was on parole for a previous burglary conviction—Monday afternoon when the resident of the home they were casing alerted police to strangers lurking around her home.
The female resident of a Brianne Court home was alone with her 2-year-old daughter at about 12:30 p.m. when someone kept ringing the doorbell and knocking on the front door.
Peering out the window, the woman spotted a dark-colored SUV in her driveway that she didn't recognize and she dialed police to request that an officer respond to her home, police said.
With the receiver still to her ear, the woman noticed two men prowling around her backyard who were about to break into the home through a sliding glass door.
Spooked by the sight of the woman, the men dashed around the yard and hopped into the SUV, but according to police, the woman was able to provide police with the vehicle's license plate number before the suspects hightailed it out of the driveway.
A responding officer spotted the vehicle by its plate number and followed it onto Interstate Highway 680 toward Dublin and San Ramon.
Some 14 miles away at the Bollinger Canyon Road exit in San Ramon, additional officers assisted in stopping the vehicle and arresting Oakland man Terry Shumlai, 26, and San Leandro resident Pedro Contreras, 20.
Shumlai and Contreras were booked at Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of attempted burglary. Shumlai, who was on parole for prior burglary convictions, was also charged with violating his parole, police said.
Stressing the importance of the victim's "willingness to get involved and report something suspicious" in the department's ability to nab the criminals, Pleasanton police urge anyone who observes suspicious activity to contact the department at (925) 931-5100.
