2 Arrested on Suspicion of Burglary of Abandoned Homes

Police arrested two men in Richmond on Wednesday night after a resident spotted them stealing appliances from an abandoned home, a police spokeswoman said Thursday.
 
The resident in the 3600 block of Andrade Avenue called 911 around 7:30 p.m. to report that two men were carrying appliances out of a nearby home that had been red-tagged.

The men fled in a flatbed cargo truck, police Sgt. Nicole Abetkov said. Officers arriving in the area spotted the men driving in the truck with multiple appliances inside, she said. The men, aged 37 and 59, were detained and arrested on suspicion of burglary.
 
The arrests came a day after a similar incident in which a man and woman were seen burglarizing a Richmond home while the homeowners were on vacation, Abetkov said. An alert neighbor called police to report that suspects were taking appliances from the home and loading them into a U-Haul van, she said. Officers were able to apprehend and arrest the suspects and found that the U-Haul was stolen.
 
Richmond police have seen a rise in crime around abandoned homes in the city, many of which have been red-tagged, or condemned because they are deemed unsafe to live in, Abetkov said. In many cases, burglars steal appliances and sell their metal parts.
 
"We get calls pretty much on a daily basis about abandoned homes -- people going in and squatting in them," she said.
 
Residents who observe any suspicious activity around red-tagged or other vacant homes are asked to call Richmond police.

—By Bay City News