Full Notification

A Lancaster home was burglarized Tuesday morning in the 44600 block of 18th Street East. Lancaster Sheriff’s Station patrol deputies and Lancaster Burglary Suppression Team deputies investigated the burglary.

Deputies soon obtained video from a nearby security system that had videotaped the Toyota Solara used by the burglary suspects.

As the deputies drove through Lancaster to follow up on several leads, they recognized the suspects vehicle, occupied by two suspects, driving near the intersection of Challenger Way and Lancaster Blvd.

When the deputies attempted to conduct a traffic stop of the vehicle near 12th Street East and Morven St. to detain the suspected burglars, Suspect Bobby Smith-Harper stopped the car, got out, and ran.

As deputies closed in on the suspects, they coordinated backup and surrounded the area to ensure he didn’t escape the neighborhood. Smith-Harper hopped the backyard fences of over a dozen homes as he fled from deputies.

When deputies got closer and closer to him, he forced his way through the back door and into a home in the 1200 block of E. Donatello St.

“Deputies heard screaming coming from inside, formed a rescue team, and immediately entered the home,” said Captain Mike Parker, Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau. “As the deputies rushed into the home, a mother and three teenage daughters ran out to the safety of assisting deputies who had the home surrounded.”

Once inside the home, deputies determined the suspect had locked himself inside a bedroom, and was refusing to surrender. Deputies took up positions of advantage and checked the rest of the home to ensure no other innocent people were inside.

Lancaster sheriff’s deputies requested for the Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) – Special Weapons and Tactics Team to respond.

Meanwhile, the suspect tried to break through the ceiling, and when that failed, he tried to break through a wall inside the home in a futile effort to evade arrest.

As the Los Angeles County sheriff’s helicopter carrying the SEB deputies landed near Challenger Way and Lancaster Blvd., the suspect surrendered to deputies and was taken into custody inside the home.

The second suspect, 20-year old Glen Gaines, a male Black resident of Lancaster was arrested by deputies when the car stopped near 12th Street East and Morven St. He was arrested for felony receiving stolen property. His bail is set at $20,000.

Although he initially provided a different name to deputies, Suspect Bobby Smith-Harper was identified through his fingerprints. He is a 20-year male Black resident of Stockton. A warrant check revealed that he had two outstanding Stockton warrants for felony spousal assault, each which permitted no bail.

Suspect Smith-Harper’s charges related to his alleged crimes in Lancaster on Tuesday include two counts of residential burglary (one to avoid apprehension), felony intimidation of a witness, felony vandalism, providing false identification to a peace officer, and fleeing from a peace officer.

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Captain Mike Parker
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
(323) 267-4800
www.lasd.org


Leroy D. Baca, Sheriff