Burglary Suspect Ends Up Behind Bars--at a Home

The security bars on a 71-year-old woman’s back patio door proved a good investment when they apparently netted a burglary suspect in the 4100 block of Sycamore Drive.

San Diego police spokesman Bill Robinson said Thursday that Cynthia Loescher, a night nurse at the El Cajon Convalescent Center, was asleep at 3 p.m. Wednesday when she was awakened by screams coming from the back of her home.

Loescher said she found a man stuck between the security bars and the top of the door that leads from the back patio into her kitchen. She said the man apparently was trying to slip through the 8 1/2-inch opening, feet-first, when he became stuck at the rib cage.

“He was half-in, half-out,” Loescher said. “He was screaming: ‘You’re breaking my back,’ and I wasn’t even touching him. I was petrified.”

Loescher said a neighbor responded to her pleas for help and phoned the police. “It took two officers to get him out,” she said. “One to push him out and one to pull him out.”

Arrested at the scene was Armando A. Camargio, 33, of San Diego. Camargio was booked into County Jail for suspicion of burglary.

“I’ve seen him around before,” Loescher said. “He knocked on my door about a week ago with a couple of oranges and asked me to buy them. I said no.”