Teen boy allegedly burglarizes Oak Park house with family inside, returns to steal car

OAK PARK, Calif. (KABC) -- A 15-year-old boy was arrested after allegedly burglarizing an Oak Park home and returning to the residence to steal the homeowner's car.

A Thousand Oaks police officer responded to a call of a home burglary near Rosehedge Lane and Conifer Street Sunday night. The victim told police he and his family were sleeping when a suspect entered their house through an unlocked front door and stole a wallet, car keys and other belongings.

Later that night, at about 10 p.m., the suspect returned to the home and stole the victim's car. As deputies were responding to take another crime report, the suspect returned a third time - this time in the stolen car -- and ran off after seeing police in the area.

Responding deputies set up a perimeter and used a K-9 to search the area. The K-9 tracked the suspect from the abandoned stolen vehicle to a home about three blocks away, but the burglar wasn't found.

A day later, Auto Crimes Unit detectives searched the same area, found the suspect and located evidence that linked him to the stolen vehicle and the hot prowl residential burglary.

The unidentified teenager was arrested for car theft and home burglary and was taken to a juvenile hall.

Upon further investigation, authorities learned the same teen was wanted for two counts of residential burglary in Los Angeles County.