Local Irvine Teens Burglarize Fellow Residents – Poodle Leads Police to One Victim’s Home

IRVINE, CA – Two young men from Irvine have been arrested following a string of brazen daytime robberies that netted the thieves items such as laptops, cameras, watches and iPods – And a seemingly stray poodle ultimately lead police to a victimized home.

Mason Sloan Heroux, 18, and Nicholas James Snyder, 19, both of Irvine, were tracked down by police shortly after 1 pm, Wednesday, in the neighborhood of Ashwood and Lakeshore, after a resident in the area reported a suspicious person that appeared to be trying to enter a home.

The neighbor reported that the subject was looking into the windows of a residence where it appeared no one was home. The subject then knocked on the front door and checked to see if it was locked before going through a side gate into the backyard, apparently continuing his search for a way into the residence.

A short time later, the subject was seen leaving the area in a black Toyota Highlander SUV.

Police responded and were quickly able to locate the black SUV. Two subjects, one of whom matched the description of the subject that had been seen trying to enter the aforementioned home, were standing nearby.

According to police, evidence found during their follow-up investigation quickly lead them to believe that the two were responsible for a series of residential burglaries that involved stealing property from homes where they’d found the doors unlocked.

The two were arrested and three of their victims were identified during the arrest.

Police were lead to one of those victim’s homes by a black poodle that initially seemed to be aimlessly wandering the neighborhood. However, the dog ultimately showed police the way to its home and the open gate that had allowed it to escape – the gate having been left open by the suspects during a robbery.

Because the robberies occurred during the day when many people are at work, Police believe there may be other victims and ask that anyone that thinks they may be a victim – or has any additional information – to contact the Irvine Police Department.