Burglary suspect corraled in neighborhood search
SANTA ROSA – Santa Rosa police officers scoured the city’s Rincon Valley last week in search of a burglary suspect who had been previously freed on bail after multiple burglary arrests.
Police Car
The suspect’s latest arrest on the Feb. 8 burglary attempt hiked his bail to $2 million.
The search began around 2 p.m. last Tuesday, when an Estes Drive resident found 45-year-old Santa Rosan Monte Mullins in his home. The two fought as the homeowner tried to get Mullins to leave. The intruder eventually fled the residence.
When officers arrived at the scene, they set up a perimeter around the neighborhood in an effort to locate Mullins. They also alerted several area schools. Only 15 minutes later a resident on Badger Road reported seeing a man in her backyard who matched the description given by the man on Estes Drive. The suspect took off running east on Badger Road.
Because of several recent burglaries in the Rincon Valley area, numerous police units and a California Highway Patrol helicopter went to work to searching the area.
At 3:50 p.m., a resident on Baird Road reported to police that objects at her house had been moved around. As officers entered the house, Mullins jumped out of a bathroom window in an attempt to escape. He was arrested in the backyard of the residence without any resistance.
Mullins was booked into the Sonoma County jail on two counts of residential burglary, committing a felony while out on bail, and receiving stolen property.
“He was charged with receiving stolen property because we found him with property we knew was stolen, but which we did not have proof that he stole,” said Sgt. Mike Lazzarini of the department’s property crimes division.
A superior court judge raised Mullins’ bail at the request of investigating officers.
“He’s a burglar. That’s what he is. He’s been arrested for burglary in many similar cases,” explained Lazzarini. “Residential burglars are a different caliber of burglars than ones who do commercial burglary. It’s a more complicated crime and the courts are less lenient because these burglars are going into people homes.”
