Man found in Newport Beach home pleads not guilty to burglary, drug and weapons charges
A Lake Forest man pleaded not guilty Monday to burglary, drug and weapons charges stemming from a residential burglary in Newport Beach.
Jason Michael Bellamy, 33, is charged with two counts of felony first-degree burglary. He also faces three counts of possession of a controlled substance, one count of possession of controlled-substance paraphernalia, one count of possession of burglary tools and one count of possession of tear gas and a tear gas weapon, all misdemeanors, according to Orange County Superior Court records.
Newport Beach police received a call at about 6 a.m. Thursday from a construction manager after he arrived at a residential job site on Galaxy Drive and noticed the lock on the side gate was missing. The man told police the homeowners were out of the country and that no one should be on the property, authorities said.
“He was immediately concerned because the home had been burglarized three weeks prior,” police wrote in a news release.
The construction manager told police he found a backpack with what appeared to be a weapon propping open a door to the home. Police said they later found a replica air gun, methamphetamine, heroin, narcotics paraphernalia, burglary tools and the missing lock inside the backpack.
As the construction manager was talking to emergency dispatchers, he saw a man walking through the backyard, police said.
Officers entered the home, broke through bedroom and bathroom doors that had been barricaded and found a man and a woman inside, police said.
The woman told officers she was under the impression that the man was housesitting in the home, said police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella.
Police identified the man as Bellamy and the woman as Leslie Anne Lawrence, 52, of Newport Beach.
Lawrence was arrested and has been charged with unlawful entry of a noncommercial dwelling and trespassing, both misdemeanors, according to court records.
Police alleged that Bellamy had burglarized the house before. He was booked into Orange County Jail with bail set at $50,000.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
