Man breaks into Pasadena house while teens home alone, police say

PASADENA, Calif. -- A man smashed his way into a Pasadena house while two teenagers were home alone, according to officials.

Pasadena police said the incident happened in the 1900 block of North Raymond Avenue at about 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Elvia Martinez said she and her husband were walking home from a dentist appointment when they received a frantic call from their 14-year-old son who was home alone with his 17-year-old sister.

"He said, 'Mom there's a man inside the house.' So I started running," Martinez recalled. "I thought something was going to happen to my kids at that moment."

Martinez's daughter, who asked to not be identified, said the intruder knocked on the front door just moments before smashing his way into her parent's room.

The teen said she was in restroom when she heard the window shatter and her brother began yelling for her to hide.

"That was when he yelled at me to stay in the restroom," she explained. "So I locked myself in there and then he ran out."

The victim said after hearing the man rummaging through the bedrooms, he started looking for witnesses inside the home.

"He checked the knob and it was locked so he broke down the door," the victim recalled. "All he told me was, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't know it was you in here.'"

Martinez's husband got to the house just in time and was able to chase the suspect out of the home.

The family said not only did they know the intruder, but he was their neighbor who lives just feet away from them in an apartment building.

"He's the next door neighbor," Martinez said. "I don't know if he was on any kind of drugs or what."

The suspect, identified by police as 36-year-old Carlos Casares, was arrested and booked for suspicion of residential robbery and burglary.

Casares' bail was set at $20,000.