☆ A sunrise arrest in Central San Jose
Local historian April Halberstadt provides a gripping first-hand report of her home being burglarized in November of last year. First in a series from Halberstadt describing her experience. An Opp Now exclusive.
It was still dark this morning when my husband went downstairs for his coffee - Alexa usually has it ready for him. Hans surprised a burglar in the house, already assembling a little stash of items to carry off. Hans yelled at me to call 911 and grabbed a handgun, then forced the burglar to lay on the floor until the SJPD arrived. The weapon is kept locked in a special safe that opens quickly to Hans' fingerprint.
Five units of San Jose's finest were here within minutes, taking an adult male into custody and doing the necessary paperwork. He was wearing cargo pants and his pockets were already full, so dear neighbors, I would suggest you look around your premises and vehicles to see if you are missing anything.
Yes, we have the entire incident on camera. Multiple cameras. The thief waved at the cameras as he strolled down our driveway to force the rear entrance. He also stopped to search through my car. We were able to replay the entire incident for the officers who showed up (technology is wonderful) and they took a copy of the video with them.
We have the Case # and will soon be able to track the thief as he goes through the various stages of booking, arraignment and whatever else happens in the local criminal justice system. He was asked where he lived and his response was that he was homeless.
He may also have had a car or a bicycle somewhere nearby, so if you see something suspicious in your area, please let us know. He was found with a car key in possession.
We are doing okay but my two cats were very upset at all the early morning turmoil. I had no idea cats could be so expressive, but they understood that all was not well and were not happy
I was wondering why the thief was out at 6AM, but it was still very dark this morning so perhaps he had no idea what time it was. --April Halberstadt
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