A suspect who allegedly broke into a Hermosa Beach home and ransacked it while the residents were inside — including two children — was taken into custody Monday.
Officers responded at about 2:45 a.m. Monday to a home on Manhattan Avenue after receiving reports of a possible home invasion and burglary in progress, according to the Hermosa Beach Police Department.
The victims told officers they believed the suspect had entered their residence through a window, with their two children, aged 5 and 3, upstairs, police said.
Officers requested assistance from several law enforcement agencies, including the Manhattan Beach Police Department, the Redondo Beach Police Department, the El Segundo Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which helped establish a perimeter around the scene while a helicopter monitored the area overhead, police said.
The victims met officers outside the home, prompting the suspect shortly afterward to open the front door and attempt to flee the scene, but he immediately closed the door and barricaded himself inside.
Police said the suspect then ran upstairs toward the children’s room before officers forced their way into the home and found the suspect on the second floor. The suspect was taken into custody without incident, and police said the children were found safe and asleep in their room.
No injuries were reported.
“The well-being of those two children was our first priority from the moment we got the call,” HBPD Chief Landon Phillips said in a statement, adding that the officers’ quick thinking and coordination with neighboring law enforcement agencies led to the capture of the suspect, whose name was not released.