11/19/2012

Cops: Bungling burglar shows how to get caught

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By Sharon Bernstein, NBCLosAngeles.com

A bungling burglar left footprints, fingerprints, and even photos of himself at a Los Angeles home, police said.

Lt. Paul Vernon said the man kicked in the front door of a house in Arleta on Nov. 13 and started to ransack a bedroom.

The burglar made so much noise that he awoke the owner, who had been asleep in another room, Vernon said.

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He then begged the owner not to call police and ran out to his car – which wouldn't start, the LAPD said in a press release.

He then came back into the house, again asking the residents not to call police. The man who owned the house chased the burglar out of the house, police said, and hit him with a gardening hoe while his wife called police.

The burglar was knocked out by the blow from the homeowner, but soon revived and walked away. He left his car in the driveway – full of his own property as well as electronics that may have been stolen from other homes, police said.

Among the items found: an iPad with the suspect's photographs on it and a traffic ticket bearing his name, police said.

Authorities identified the suspect as Miguel Luna, 25.

"It's often said in forensics that we always leave a little bit of ourselves behind anywhere we've been," said Vernon, commanding officer of Mission Detective Division. "But this guy must have set some record on the variety and amount of evidence he left."

Police described the case as "a study in how to get caught."

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