A 24-year-old Temecula man was arrested early Saturday morning after a search warrant recovered evidence in two burglaries, including one in a Temecula home on Tuesday where a handgun and car were stolen, police said.
Coty Lee Carter, 24, was arrested for felony burglary and possession of stolen property charges and booked into the Southwest Detention Center. Bail was set at $35,000.
On Tuesday morning around 3 a.m., a resident in a home in the 30800 block of Corte Arroyo Vista heard noises inside her home, but didn’t investigate or call for assistance, according to police.
Later that morning around 8:45 a.m., her husband returned home from work and saw that a car was missing from the driveway. When he entered the home he noticed that a burglar had entered through a window and items were missing, including a loaded handgun, according to police. Also missing were keys used to steal the car from the driveway.
Temecula police located the stolen car in the parking lot of the Margarita Summit Apartments in Temecula and obtained a search warrant for an apartment in the 42200 block of Margarita Road on Friday.
During the search police recovered two cars and property from two separate burglaries, according to authorities. Anyone with further information is encouraged to contact Investigator Mejia or Investigator Dickey at the Temecula Police Department at (951) 696-3000.
Good job PD on getting this guy and I wonder how many of the many other burglaries he is responsible for in our area?
I said last week and the post was rejected Low income housing is part of the problem, And they just keep building them . I hope the market value goes up on the home so I can sell and move to a city with less crime on the rise...... It's like a field day out there
Having said that, however... The rest of your points are ludicrous. When I moved into my home, my firearm was secured... always... and was never left lying around. And what does not having kids around the home have to do with keeping your firearm secure? (Oh, I know what you're thinking: "What's the worst that can happen?" Ummm... I dunno... maybe a burglar breaks into your home and gains control of your loaded firearm before you do?) Again, I'm grateful nothing happened to your relatives. But as I noted in a previous comment, the outcome could have been a lot worse.
Just because they were "well trained" doesn't mean they didn't have a lapse in judgment on how to safely keep a weapon. You better believe that had that weapon been used to hurt anyone else, we'd be looking to the original owner to answer for her stupidity. I don't blame her for the crime, but keeping a loaded weapon in a purse or vehicle out of your area of control just isn't wise. It's simple. It's either with you, or locked up. This culture of firearm ignorance is one of the problems we're seeing across the US. New weapon safety rule: If it isn't locked up or in your possession, assume someone else is going to steal it or use it against you.
You make an interesting point about using firearms for home protection: Not carrying your firearm with you everywhere in the house. I suspect that's the fallacy of keeping a weapon in the home for protection; It's typically not at-the-ready if an intruder breaks into your home and confronts you. My firearm is locked away in a gun vault. While the gun vault is in an accessible location, it's in a particular room... a room that I don't occupy every single moment I'm home. So if I happen to take a shower or a bathroom break at the moment an intruder breaks into my home, my firearm won't do me much good since it will be out of reach. And I suspect my situation is the identical for just about all gun owners... our firearms are not quickly, immediately accessible at a moment of need. Again, I'm grateful nothing happened to your relatives.