A Rocklin resident who noticed something amiss at his neighbor's house led police to arrest a man suspected of burglarizing at least two homes in the city this week.
Matthew Christopher Gonzales (pictured), 25, was arrested Tuesday afternoon after Rocklin police responded to a report of a residential burglary on Deer Run Court about 12:30 p.m.
When officers arrived, a witness told them that her father had noticed that the side door to their neighbor's garage had been broken open and heard noises coming from inside the neighbor's home, which he thought should have been vacant at the time.
While checking outside the neighbor's home, the witness' father was confronted by a man he did not know who emerged from inside the house. The witness' father chased the man, following him to the area of Sammy Way, according to a Police Department news release.
Officers later discovered that the home had been burglarized. The witness also told them that the suspect might be armed with a handgun.
When officers arrived on Sammy Way, they learned that the burglary suspect had jumped a fence and avoided capture. Police subsequently searched the area and spotted an apartment with an open sliding glass door. When they informed the occupants of their search, officers learned that the unsuspecting resident had allowed the burglary suspect to enter the apartment after he asked to use the telephone.
Police detained the man, later identified as Gonzales, who matched the witness' description of the suspect. He was wearing a ring on his finger and had a large knife concealed in his waistband, both of which had been stolen from the Deer Run Court residence, police said.
Gonzales was taken into custody, and further investigation turned up evidence linking him to a residential burglary that occurred Monday at an address on Onyx Drive in Rocklin.
Officers initially were unable to locate the handgun the witness had mentioned, but in a search of the area, they found a loaded .32 caliber handgun in bushes. Gonzales is believed to have discarded the gun during the foot chase from Deer Run Court, police said. The handgun reportedly had been stolen in a third burglary.
Gonzales was booked into Placer County Jail on two counts of residential burglary, two counts of possession of stolen property and possession of a concealed dagger.
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