Transients Nabbed in Separate Burglaries

By Lookout Staff

May 24 -- Two homeless burglars were caught in the act by police Sunday night -- one of them on videotape -- after breaking into a commercial and a residential building in unrelated incidents, police said.

Mitsuya Tanaka, a 35-year-old transient, was caught inside an apartment in the 2200 block of 4th Street shortly after 10 p.m. after the tenant heard noises and saw the suspect inside her unit, police said.

The victim fled to her neighbor’s apartment and called the police, said Lt. Frank Fabrega, the police department spokesman.

Responding officers set-up a perimeter around the apartment complex and with the assistance of the police K-9 unit located the suspect inside the victim’s home, Fabrega said.

Tanaka was arrested and booked for residential burglary and probation violation, police said. He is being held at the Santa Monica Jail without bail.

Meanwhile, some two dozen blocks away, police were also responding to a reported burglary on the 2200 block of Colorado.

When officers arrived they saw that the suspect had removed the window from the door leading into the business, Fabrega said. The suspect had apparently entered and left the building before the officers’ arrival.

Investigating officers reviewed a videotape of the incident that showed the suspect breaking into the business, Fabrega said. Officers searched the immediate area and located a suspect who matched the burglar caught on tape.

Officers arrested Lance Manuel Araujo, a 46-year-old transient, and recovered evidence linking him to the crime, Fabrega said.

Araujo was booked at the Santa Monica Jail. His bail has been set at $20,000.