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La Crescenta man arrested in connection with La Cañada residential burglary, vehicle theft

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A La Crescenta man is scheduled to appear in court later this month, as detectives with the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station investigate his connection to a residential burglary and theft of a vehicle in La Cañada Flintridge in June.

Sgt. Alan Chu, a detective with the Crescenta Valley station, confirmed deputies executed a judge-issued Ramey warrant for 36-year-old Paul Armstrong for second-degree burglary on Aug. 2. A judge also signed a search warrant on a home on the 2500 block of Harmony Place in La Crescenta for evidence or information linking Armstrong to the La Cañada burglary and vehicle theft.

Investigating deputies sought the warrant through a judge, rather than pursuing an official arrest warrant through the district attorney’s office, in order to learn more about the nature of Armstrong’s connection to the stolen and abandoned vehicle, the detective explained.

Detectives were led to the suspect after finding some paperwork with his name on it inside a 1993 Chrysler Concorde that was discovered abandoned sometime after the burglary and impounded by a parking enforcement officer for having expired tags, Chu said.

The vehicle remained undisturbed at Crescenta Valley Towing until June 9, when the burglary was reported by the elderly homeowner of a house on the 5100 block of Angeles Crest Highway and her daughter. The two had come to collect some items and check on the property for the first time since March, after the older woman had been moved to a Burbank retirement home.

The mother and daughter noticed the home’s garage door was open and the car inside was missing. Around the back of the residence, a rear glass door had been shattered and its screen ripped open. Clothes, trash and empty boxes were scattered all over the house, according to the June 9 police report.

As soon as the missing Chrysler’s information was entered into the Sheriff’s Department’s database, its location in the impound lot was discovered. Several items were found inside the car, in addition to paperwork bearing Armstrong’s name, that are still being linked to the Angeles Crest home break-in.

“There was a lot of stuff in the car,” Chu said Monday. “We didn’t know whether it had been stolen or not. There’s still a lot of legwork to do. But things are falling into place.”

Armstrong, who was eventually released on bond, is scheduled to appear in a Pasadena court on Aug. 23, Chu confirmed.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine

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