Burglaries Orange County

Two men suspected of burglarizing cars in the past week were arrested near an apartment complex Tuesday morning, police said. Booked on suspicion of burglary were Pris Varga, 30, identified as a transient, and Arturo Ortiz, 21, of Fullerton. La Habra Police Sgt. Steve Costanzo said patrol officers Dan Pratt and Chris Koelber spotted the two men in the 100 block of East Montwood Avenue shortly after midnight. Ortiz ran off as the officers approached, Costanzo said.

A San Clemente man was arraigned Wednesday in connection with a long string of hotel burglaries in South County and San Diego County over the last several months. Although Dale Warren McMannes, 36, pleaded not guilty in Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel, police say he has confessed to more than 70 hotel break-ins in the area.

An 18-year-old Anaheim woman who occasionally visited the house where 9-year-old Autumn Wallace was found stabbed to death has been arrested on suspicion of murder and burglary, and police are looking for two other suspects in the case, authorities said Thursday. A fingerprint found inside the family's home was the "key factor" that led to the arrest of Maria del Rosio Alfaro in connection with the June 15 slaying of the youngster at her home, Sheriff's Lt. Richard J. Olson said.

The burglars who have been picking through upscale homes in several Newport Beach neighborhoods are stealthy, yet infuriatingly bold. They have logged 31 successful break-ins since September--and a total take valued at nearly $1 million--without a stumble, police said. Their latest and most profitable hit occurred last weekend, when the burglars slipped into two homes on Balboa Peninsula and emptied two elaborately concealed safes of more than $500,000 in jewelry, sterling silver and cash.

Police have arrested five Orange County men who they say orchestrated a string of 25 cigar store burglaries over the past year. Since last summer, police have been investigating a series of sophisticated commercial burglaries in Newport Beach and 10 other cities, Sgt. John Desmond said. In each case, the burglars cut a hole in the store's roof with a saw. Once inside, they disabled alarm or security systems, Desmond said.

The parents whose 18-month-old son was left in his car seat while they allegedly robbed and burglarized hardware stores and sandwich shops from Fontana to Laguna Niguel were charged Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court in Laguna Niguel. Todd Hill Smith, 32, and Rebecca Jean Mangan, 24, whose last address was a Fontana motel, appeared before Superior Court Judge Carl Biggs in connection with 14 robberies and burglaries. Their bail was set at $250,000 and $150,000, respectively.

Nearly $37,000 worth of computer equipment was stolen from a GTE Corp. office, prompting the phone company to post a $5,000 reward Tuesday for information leading to a conviction in the theft. Officials said that 18 new Hewlett-Packard Pentium computers and nine monitors were taken from the Gothard Street office before dawn on Feb. 17. The office, known as an exchange site, handles the phone traffic for parts of Huntington Beach.

Letter carrier Roel Acuestas didn't like the looks of the situation. First he spotted the car, a small white Honda carelessly parked in front of a house on Geronimo Lane, one of the 300 homes in Lake Forest that Acuestas has served for 14 years. The Madigans live there, he thought. Mike and Carol. They don't have a little white Honda. Never did.

Sometimes nothing seems to go your way. Jorge Arturo Hernandez, 22, of Anaheim was arrested Friday on suspicion of trying to burglarize an apartment in Costa Mesa. Police said he was chased off by a shotgun-firing tenant, then run to ground by police dogs. Costa Mesa police Sgt. Darell Freeman said the incident began when an apartment dweller in the 800 block of Baker Street came home to find Hernandez rummaging through his possessions.