Lancaster residents help nab suspected serial burglar

Authorities in Lancaster are praising residents for helping nab a suspected serial burglar earlier this week. 

According to a news release, deputies at the Lancaster station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department received a call on Tuesday at about 8 a.m. alerting them of a burglary in the 2100 block of Langhorn Avenue in east Lancaster.

Deputies said the caller told authorities that neighbors were trying to detain the suspect. When deputies arrived they found several people holding a man on the ground.

Investigators later learned that the suspect, identified as 19-year-old Jaime Ramirez, was spotted burglarizing a nearby home, which had been the target of several recent break-ins, authorities said.

Ramirez was on probation after being convicted of stealing more than 20 air-conditioning units from several Lancaster homes last year, authorities said.

According to the news release, a search of Ramirez’s residence turned up several items that had been stolen during the previous burglaries. The suspect also led investigators to the home of a 15-year-old boy he fingered as an accomplice in the crimes, authorities said. Deputies recovered additional stolen items at the boy’s home and arrested him, authorities said.

Before he was booked at the Lancaster station jail, Ramirez was treated at a local hospital for injuries he allegedly received while being detained by residents, deputies said. Officials quoted Ramirez as saying he had been “socked in the face” by one of the residents.

In written remarks, Lancaster station Capt. Bob Jonsen said that, while he did not advocate people taking matters into their own hands, he did “encourage them to be good witnesses for the responding deputies.”

“Remember, If you see something, say something,” Jonsen said.

ALSO:

Palmdale seeks to honor 'Fifty Grand Men'

Cuba Gooding Jr. bar shoving allegation dropped

UCI professor accused in murder plot: 'Daddy was so sad'

-- Ann M. Simmons in Santa Clarita