Full Notification

On May 22, 2012 at 10:31 AM, La Mesa Police arrest two subjects for burglarizing a residence in the 4400 block of Carlin Place. At 10:04 AM, La Mesa Police received a report that two subjects parked their vehicle in the 4400 block of Upland Street and began walking around looking at residences. One resident in the area saw this suspicious activity and notified the police. Before the officers arrived on Upland Street, the subjects had returned to their vehicle and driven off the street. Officer Daniel Paugh responded to the area and began looking for the vehicle and the subjects in the neighborhood. Officer Paugh found the vehicle as it was leaving the area and stopped it to investigate the suspicious activity. While he had the vehicle stopped, La Mesa Police received a 911 call from a resident on Carlin Place (two blocks from Upland) stating she had just saw two subjects inside her home and she believed she had been burglarized. It was later determined that the subjects Officer Paugh had stopped were the two subjects casing the area and the subjects who burglarized the residence on Carlin Place.

The suspects were 22 year-old Jose Mercado-Gonzales from Imperial Beach and 22 year-old Jeffrey Thomas from El Cajon. Both suspects were booked into San Diego County Jail on one charge of residential burglary.

This case is another example where an early report of suspicious activity by a citizen, helped the police apprehend these burglars.