PASADENA — Police, with the help of a vigilant resident, jailed three burglary suspects Tuesday and recovered stolen property including jewelry and a rare guitar stolen from a Pasadena home earlier in the day, officials said.
Simon Soultanian, 34, of Pasadena, Byron Mendez, 23, of San Gabriel and Luis Martinez, 36, of Covina were booked on suspicion of residential burglary, Pasadena police Lt. Rodney Wallace said.
Neighbors noticed a man going door to door shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday in the 400 block of Oneida Drive, asking residents if they had a room to rent out, the lieutenant said.
“One of the neighbors observed him go down the driveway of another resident’s house, toward the rear, and called police,” Wallace said.
After providing police with a description of the suspicious man and the vehicle he drove off in, including a partial license plate number, police dispatchers were able to identify where the car was registered. Officers spotted in driving in the area of Washington Boulevard and Hill Avenue and pulled it over.
Wallace said officers found property, including jewelry and a “rare guitar” inside the car that had been reported stolen from the home on Oneida Drive. Soultanian, Mendez and Martinez, who were inside the car, were then arrested.
According to sheriff’s booking records, Soultanian and Mendez were being held in lieu of $50,000 bail pending arraignment, while Martinez was being held without bail.
“This was definitely another success because of observant citizens,” Wallace said.