Pair held in early-morning vehicle thefts

Laguna Beach police arrested two suspected vehicle burglars early Wednesday morning after a house-to-house search in the Anita and Wilson Streets area, Sgt. Bob Rahaeuser said.

The two suspects, both from Norco, are believed responsible for breaking into multiple vehicles in South Laguna the same night.

Police were summoned to Anita Street area at 2:30 a.m. when someone reported seeing men looking into vehicles with flashlights, Rahaeuser said.

Officers arrived soon thereafter and cordoned off the area, conducting a house-to-house search for the suspects. Two men were found hiding behind a home on Anita Street. Both denied that they had conducted the burglaries, however, officers had already located a vehicle in the vicinity with allegedly stolen property in it, Rahauser said.

A laptop computer that was stolen from a vehicle in South Laguna was allegedly retrieved from the suspects’ vehicle, according to police records.

Skyler Dean Holmes, 19 and Dustin Schmuch, 18, were arrested on suspicion of burglary and sent to Orange County Jail. Bail for each was set at $20,000.

CINDY FRAZIER is city editor of the Coastline Pilot. She can be contacted at (949) 380-4321 or cindy.frazier@latimes.com.