SOUTH PASADENA >> A woman awoke to find an intruder inside her South Pasadena home, where three small children were also sleeping early Thursday, police said.
While the residential burglar escaped, police hunting for him ultimately ended up apprehending a wanted parolee in connection with a separate car break-in, South Pasadena police Sgt. Matthew Ronnie said.
The incident began about 3 a.m. when the burglar made his way into her home through an unlocked rear door, he said.
“The victim heard noises and woke up to see a silhouette of a person standing in the room holding a flashlight,” Ronnie said. “The victim screamed and the suspect fled with not loss,” the sergeant said. The suspect was described only as a person wearing dark clothes and a baseball cap.
Ronnie said the woman soon discovered her car, parked in front of her home, had been broken into as well, Ronnie said. It was unclear if the same man who broke into the home also broke into the car.
Officers searching the area for the intruder detained two men walking in the neighborhood, police said.
The men could not be connected to the burglaries, and officers let one of them go, Ronnie said. But the second man was taken to jail after he was found to be an “armed and dangerous felon” who had absconded from his parole supervision.
Later Thursday morning, police learned that items such as pocket change and a skateboard the two men had with them when contacted by police had been stolen in another auto break-in along the same street, Ronnie said. The parolee was additionally expected to face a burglary charge, while a warrant was issued for the second 19-year-old suspect who had already been freed before police learned of the second auto burglary.
According to police and Los Angeles County booking records, Thamie Brian Humes, 25, of Los Angeles was being held without bail pending his initial court appearance.