Burglary suspect ID'ed from victim's cellphone photo

A man suspected of burglarizing an occupied home in the Stevenson Ranch neighborhood of Santa Clarita was arrested after a resident identified him from a cellphone photograph taken by the victim at the time of the alleged crime, authorities said Wednesday.

The victim told authorities that  on Jan. 3 about 3:15 p.m., she was upstairs in her bedroom in her home in the 26100 block of Quartz Meza Lane when she heard “footsteps and unusual movement” in the kitchen area downstairs. When the victim shouted for the persons to identify themselves, two men fled the residence carrying the victim’s purse, according to a statement from the Santa Clarita Valley  Sheriff’s Station.

The victim tried to take a photograph of the license plate of the suspects' vehicle, but one of the men covered it up. She was able to snap a clear picture of one of the suspects, which authorities later released to the public.

A Santa Clarita resident was able to positively identify Karen Kapshanyan, 24, as the person in the cellphone photo, authorities said.  Detectives served a search warrant at Kapshanyan's Van Nuys residence about 9 p.m. Tuesday and arrested him. He was booked for alleged residential burglary and is being held on $50,000 bail pending his scheduled arraignment at San Fernando Superior Court in Sylmar on Thursday, authorities said. 

Kapshanyan’s alleged accomplice has not been identified. Authorities said no further information was available about this case.

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-- Ann M. Simmons in Santa Clarita

Photo: Cellphone photo of Karen Kapshanyan taken by the victim at the time of the alleged burglary. Credit: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.