Police: Teens tried to steal

LA CRESCENTA — Six teens were arrested Monday on attempted burglary charges after a resident reported suspicious behavior.

Tarrant Stewart, 19, Antonio Dismuke, 18, and four boys under 18, all from Pasadena, were arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies shortly after 8 a.m. Monday after residents reported seeing them knock on doors in an apparent attempt to find vacant homes along the 5500 block of Pinecone Road, said sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Harley.

“They told [the first resident] their car was overheating and they needed water, but the resident saw no indication that there was a problem with the car,” Harley said. “We got a call from another neighbor [a short time later] who said suspects [matching the same description] knocked on their door and said they were looking for their dog.”

The residents called the Crescenta Valley sheriff’s station, which dispatched the deputies. They stopped a vehicle and suspects matching the neighbors’ description at Cross Street and Briggs Avenue, directly across from the sheriff’s station.

In recent burglaries in La Cañada and the Crescenta Valley area, surveillance tapes have revealed suspects walking up to a home and knocking on doors and windows. If no one answers, the suspects would walk into the backyards, break windows or doors and enter the residence.

“This appears to be that type of activity,” Harley said. “They are looking for a house where no one is home. They knock and ring the doorbell, and if someone answers, they come up with a quick story.”

The suspects were found with items that appeared to be from a burglary that occurred in Altadena last week, Harley said.