Transient Charged in Burglaries, Car Thefts

A 19-year-old transient was charged Wednesday with six burglaries and auto thefts, including a break-in at a Reseda house where professional baseball star Bret Saberhagen was sleeping with his family, authorities said.

The man, Vinsent Gene Franke, was charged with four counts of residential burglary and two counts of auto theft, Deputy Dist. Atty. James A. Baker said.

Franke was arrested Sunday night after officers saw him driving Saberhagen’s car in Northridge, Baker said.

The car had been stolen two days earlier when the keys and other belongings were taken during the burglary of the house of Saberhagen’s mother-in-law, on Wilbur Street in Reseda. The Kansas City Royals pitcher and his family were asleep during the early morning break-in, police said.

Franke was also charged with three other burglaries and a car theft that occurred earlier this year.