L.A. Police Capture a Fallen Burglar at Church

A persistent burglar tried and tried again to escape from police who had cornered him early Tuesday in a downtown Los Angeles church but succeeded only in injuring himself and getting arrested, detectives said.

“You have to give him credit for trying,” said Detective A. Ortega, a burglary investigator at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart station.

Ortega said two Rampart patrol officers, William Jarrell and Robert Donaldson, discovered the suspect shortly after midnight after being directed to the Iglesia Evangelica Latina, in the 1500 block of West 7th Street, by a radio call.

After noticing that several bars of a wrought-iron sliding gate in front of the church had been pried open, the officers saw the suspect “holding a telephone and a (musical) keyboard,” Ortega said.

Surprised by the officers, who were unable to maneuver through the bent bars because of their gun belts and other equipment, the burglar fled back into the church, entering through a broken window. Watching through the window as they called for backup help, the officers saw the suspect climb up into the false ceiling.

The burglar crashed down to the floor, then got to his feet and began climbing again, Ortega said. “Apparently, he climbed up back through the ceiling,” Ortega added. “The officers said his body was out of view for a minute and then he came crashing back to the floor again.”

By the time the suspect “got to his feet and stumbled” to the west side of the building, police officers had managed to work their way through the bars outside the church and were there to make the arrest.

A man identified by police as Jose Reyes, 26, was arrested for burglary, then taken to the jail ward of County-USC Medical Center, where he was treated for a fractured right hand and multiple cuts.