Manhunt nabs parolee suspected in Glendale burglary spree

Calese Crowder (Glendale Police Department)

After an hours-long manhunt Tuesday that shut down a six-block area, Glendale police nabbed a parolee suspected of breaking into several occupied homes in recent days.

Police arrested Calese Crowder, 24, of Glendale, who is suspected of breaking into at least five local homes while the residents were still inside, apparently planning to rob them.

Police searched with a helicopter and K9 units after a resident reported scaring off a man who had entered a home through the kitchen window in the 1100 block of Irving Avenue at about 7 a.m., said Sgt. Tom Lorenz.

But before that resident called police, the suspect allegedly broke into the apartment next door, where a sleeping woman awoke to find him standing over her, Lorenz said.

The suspect fled and was arrested in a underground garage in the 1100 block of Thompson Avenue, Lorenz said.

Crowder was paroled in 2009 on a 2006 armed robbery conviction and has gang affiliations and a record of burglary, drugs and weapons, police said.

No one was injured in the incidents. Crowder, whose suspected motive was burglary, was cooperating with investigators.

"He is a very dangerous criminal and that created a very severe public safety concern for that area," said Chief Ron De Pompa. "It also again illustrates the problem we have with recidivism rates related to parolees, especially when they're released early and when there's inadequate supervision."

The incident was

similar to at least three other break-ins or attempted burglaries since Friday in the 1100 blocks of Irvine and Thompson avenues, Lorenz said.

On Monday, one woman woke when she felt her bed moving, and got up to find the front door open, Lorenz said. When she turned on the light in her kids' room, a man suspected to be Crowder jumped up and fled, Lorenz said.

In another incident, the same suspect was reported to be looking into the window of a home when a woman and two children were home, Lorenz said.

"This guy has worked the area, and people have seen him, but no one has ever called on him," Lorenz said.

Using the locations of those previous incidents, a police readied a "predictive map" of an area to search with the next report of the prowler.

"With that, we knew his escape routes from his past crimes," Lorenz said.

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