Crime & Safety

Two Suspected of Breaking into Home While Mom and Children Were Home

Two Los Angeles men accused of breaking into a home while the family was inside were arrested early Thursday.

Two men who broke into a woman’s Cerritos home while she and her children were inside were arrested Jan. 2, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials.

Deputies arrested 23-year-old Devonte Smith and 25-year-old Quintin Moreland, both from Los Angeles.

The break-in was reported at 11:11 a.m. on Thursday at a home in the 17200 block of Morningrain Avenue. Officials said a woman called authorities to report that two men were breaking into her home and she was home alone with her two children.

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Smith and Moreland are suspected of knocking on the woman’s door. She did not answer leading the men to believe she was not home, officials said. At least one suspect forced his way into the garage gained. Officials suspect he then forced his way into a second doorway that gave him access to the home.

He fled from the home before encountering the family who were hiding inside, deputies said. No one was injured. Outside, deputies set up a perimeter and surrounded the home.

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Deputies said they watched the men get into a white Ford F150 pickup truck parked in front of the victim’s residence. The driver then sped toward the deputies at a high rate of speed and collided into a curb – disabling the truck - in an attempt to go around the patrol cars, deputies said.

Both men were taken into custody and booked at Cerritos Sheriff’s Station and are being held in lieu of $50,000 bail each.


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