Cerritos Sheriff's Captain Nabs 3 Women Carrying Burglary Tools, Police Scanner & Casing Neighborhood

Three women allegedly carrying pry tools, a police scanner and casing a Cerritos neighborhood were taken into custody today with the help of the Cerritos Sheriff's Station captain and the operations lieutenant.

At about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Cerritos Station received a report of a suspicious woman in a silver vehicle going door to door looking for a lost cat on Briarwood Street, Capt. Keith Swensson told Patch.

The captain along with sheriff's Lt. Richard Harpham, were traveling through the area already being patrolled by sheriff's deputies, when they decided to check out a neighborhood south of Briarwood. 

While cruising through the 19400 block of Vickie Avenue in an unmarked sheriff's vehicle, Swensson and Harpham observed a woman door knocking on four houses, and stopping to look inside each of them. She was also accompanied two others in a silver vehicle trailing nearby. 

"We drove up to the car and it was completely tinted," the captain said. "We made contact with the driver and asked that she roll down the window and saw someone in the backseat."

Swensson said they discovered pry tools, a police scanner and gloves inside the vehicle, which was a rental. 

All three women -- ages 21, 23 and 28 -- were arrested, he said. Their names were not immediately released. 

It was undetermined whether any homes in the area had been burglarized by the trio, Swensson said, adding that they often don't receive reports of a burglary until residents come home from work and discover that their home has been broken into.

Swensson said today's arrests was once again a reminder of the importance of residents calling the station to report any and all suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.