Shotgun, Dogs Give Suspect More Than Run for Money

Sometimes nothing seems to go your way.

Jorge Arturo Hernandez, 22, of Anaheim was arrested Friday on suspicion of trying to burglarize an apartment in Costa Mesa. Police said he was chased off by a shotgun-firing tenant, then run to ground by police dogs.

Costa Mesa police Sgt. Darell Freeman said the incident began when an apartment dweller in the 800 block of Baker Street came home to find Hernandez rummaging through his possessions.

“He grabbed a shotgun and pointed it in the guy’s face,” Freeman said. “The guy dropped the property and took off running” after the tenant fired a warning blast.

Police cordoned off the area and called in tracker dogs from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Irvine Police Department, which trailed the suspect to a storage shed, Freeman said.

Hernandez’s bad luck didn’t end there.

“It turns out the guy was on bail for a previous burglary,” Freeman said.

Hernandez was being held on $150,000 bail at the Costa Mesa jail pending a Tuesday court appearance.