PHOTOS: Placer County Sheriff
Placer County authorities recently caught up with a burglary suspect the good old-fashioned way — by following his footprints.
On November 18, the Sheriff’s Office received a call about a metal container at a construction site near Bell Road in North Auburn that had been broken into sometime between the 16th and 18th.
Officials say the suspect appeared to have used a torch to gain access, then stolen a circular saw and pump.
The construction manager also happened to notice a trail of footprints, which a deputy followed, first toward a sidewalk, then a dirt field, then again on the road in a neighborhood some 350 away from the burgled container. Finally, they appeared to vanish near a house.
The deputy began looking into occupants of the house, identifying 40-year-old Lucas Strom as a potential suspect.
Strom, who is currently on probation in Placer County for theft and drug charges, turned out to already be in custody at the Auburn Jail on suspicion of probation violation and attempting to bribe an officer.
Strom’s probation officer told deputies than when Strom had been arrested, he’d had fresh dirt on his pants and boots. Deputies inspected Strom’s boots, comparing them to a photo of the footprints and the crime scene, and came away with a match.
Deputies also conducted a probation search of Strom’s home in hopes of finding the missing tools. They ended up finding the circular saw in a truck and the stolen pump hidden in a barn. A large cutting torch was also found along the side of the house.
Still housed at the Auburn Jail, Strom now has an additional charge of second-degree burglary.
