Torrance mom chases burglary suspects, smashes window of getaway vehicle, video shows

TORRANCE, Calif. (KABC) -- A quick trip to pick up lunch turned into a foot chase for a Torrance mother who came home to find two burglars exiting her home.

Kiara Ortiz had just pulled up to her apartment near Torrance Boulevard and Cota Avenue on Saturday afternoon when she and her two children noticed the suspects exiting the home.

"We were driving up with lunch getting ready to get home and eat and when we were coming out of the car my son immediately said, 'Who is that?' and when I looked over I saw one of them with my kid's piggy bank," Ortiz said.

Ortiz says the realization hit instantly. She began recording with her phone as she chased after the burglars, who ran toward a dark green, older-model BMW waiting nearby.

"I saw the guy kind of reach over for something, so I backed up a little bit went around the car and hit the windshield, the window," she said.

Ortiz managed to smash the car's rear passenger window with her bare hands, a move she credits to her job as a personal trainer.

Cellphone video shows the men escaping as the vehicle speeds off, nearly hitting another car in the intersection.

Ortiz's son captured footage of the license plate, but police later determined the plate had been swapped and did not match the vehicle.

Inside the home, Ortiz said the suspects had ransacked it, taking jewelry, about $100 in cash and a firearm that had been locked in a secure box.

Ortiz said she's grateful her family wasn't home just a few minutes earlier, which could have led to a much more dangerous encounter.

"I am just grateful that my family is OK, it could have gone so bad," she said.

Ortiz is now asking neighbors to keep an eye out for a dark green BMW with a shattered back window.

"I feel very violated, very angry. I feel... like you can't do nothing about it," she said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Torrance police.