A Westridge resident is trying to make sure his neighbors are on high alert after being one of three people in his neighborhood who were victimized by burglars in the last week.
Mauricio Garza, who lives on Shady Oak Lane, said around 6 p.m. Saturday his home was broken into with unbelievable efficiency.
“It was a quick in and out,” Garza said Friday night.
The thieves who stole his safe seemed to know exactly where the blind spots were in the security system, as well as where the security lights were in his backyard, which they destroyed.
Within about 20 minutes, he said, the thieves had entered his home, stolen a second-floor safe and then had it on a vehicle on Valencia Boulevard.
In conversations with Garza’s neighbors, he realized three of their homes were broken into, and then found on a social media group there were reports of a drone flying in their neighborhood.
“And I was like, ‘Wow, oh my God’ — I saw this drone, like, flying really low, checking out all the backyards and checking out everything,” he said, as he was realizing it was happening when the homeowners weren’t there.
Garza said after he noticed the drones a few times this week, he actually tracked one, waited for it to come down, and then followed the owners of it back to the La Quinta Inn in Stevenson Ranch.
Garza, who said he was from Mexico and spoke with an accent, said he didn’t recognize the accent of the men he confronted, who were Hispanic and scrambled as he approached, he said.
Garza filed a report with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, he said, but has yet to hear back on an arrest.
He also wanted to make sure his neighbors were on alert though.
“It’s a shame. We’re really sad and we’re taking matters into our hands, at least securing our neighborhood,” he said. “We’re patrolling ourselves, checking the back gates and in the back roads, walking the back roads at night and being ready, you know, for them to come back.”
SCV Sheriff’s Station officials did not have the details of the reports or any suspect information as of Friday evening.