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Lodi man chases burglars who shot at him; two suspects are arrested
When a Lodi man went home from work Tuesday, he'd planned to just get some lunch and head back to work.
That didn't happen. His lunch instead involved gunshots, a chase and a ransacked home, and two people were arrested by San Joaquin County Sheriff's deputies.
Jorge Armondo Otero
Jorge Armondo Otero, 29, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, evading police, street terrorism, burglary and receiving stolen property, according to Sheriff's officials.
A second man, George Alfonso Hernandez, 20, was arrested on suspicion of burglary.
Both men were being held in the county jail and are scheduled to appear in Lodi court Thursday.
George Alfonso Hernandez
"I came home to find eight guys in my house," said Nick, who asked that his last name and place of work not be published because the suspects were armed and most had not been found by late Tuesday.
Nick got home to his DeVries Road home, north of Sargent Road, around 11 a.m. He pulled into the driveway of the house he and his wife have rented for the past five years.
His son's bedroom window was wide open. Two extra vehicles were backed up to the house.
"I have a 10,000-pound truck and I almost just rammed into their cars so they couldn't leave, but something told me not to. Good thing, or I would have been stuck here with armed men," Nick said.
He stopped his truck and got out, and the suspects began fleeing from the house. They tried to open a sliding glass door, which was locked, so one picked up a dumbbell and threw it through the glass, Nick said.
"Some ran this way, some went that way," he said, pointing north and south from the house. "The cars took off and then picked everyone up."
Nick jumped into his truck and followed.
His first thought, he said, was that the burglars had gone into his son's bedroom, meaning they'd likely taken an XBox game system. Nick's son had saved up $400 to buy it, and Nick was mad.
He chased the white Honda Accord and maroon Buick Rendezvous south. Someone in the Buick began firing a pistol at Nick, he said.
The rounds never struck him or his truck, as he backed off a little bit but kept following. In the meantime, he was on the phone with emergency dispatchers.
"All I was thinking about was my son's stuff," he said.
They headed west on Highway 12, where they circled around a gas station and Nick tried to cut them off. An undercover San Joaquin County Sheriff's detective caught up and began following one of the suspect vehicles as it headed north on Interstate 5, then east on Peltier Road.
When more patrol vehicles arrived, they tried to stop the vehicle at Davis Road. The driver instead sped up, reaching speeds of 95 mph.
The driver began heading south on Highway 99, at which point a Sheriff's lieutenant called off the pursuit.
In the meantime, Nick had gone back to his house to wait for deputies to arrive.
He found the home completely ransacked, with night stands overturned and a computer ripped from the wall. As he had feared, his son's game system was gone.
Also missing were at least two guns — a shotgun and a rifle. Nick said he doesn't own a pistol, meaning that the thieves had armed themselves before arriving at his home.
The culprits had torn apart a 150-year-old hutch, which had belonged to Nick's great-grandparents.
And in the living room Nick found a container of orange juice that had been in the refrigerator.
One of the vehicles was registered to a South Sacramento Street home in Lodi. Sheriff's deputies eventually found a vehicle on East Locust Street.
Nick's children were at school during the burglary, and his wife had happened to go get coffee with her mother. The family dog was unharmed and still locked in a yard.
Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.
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Lodian wrote on Aug 12, 2009 2:28 PM:
CherryAna209 wrote on Aug 12, 2009 10:51 AM:
LodiJoe wrote on Aug 12, 2009 7:54 AM:
dogbark wrote on Aug 11, 2009 10:15 PM:
Hmmm. New Xbox, then a break in. Hmmm.
Let sonny think back to all those he might have bragged to at school about his new xbox. "
CherryAna209 wrote on Aug 10, 2009 11:32 AM:
LodiJoe wrote on Aug 10, 2009 10:21 AM:
dyan wrote on Aug 6, 2009 4:19 PM:
galtcitizen wrote on Aug 6, 2009 10:31 AM:
dyan wrote on Aug 6, 2009 9:40 AM:
dogs4you wrote on Aug 5, 2009 7:40 PM:
As far as those two Mexicans are concerned, if and when they get out of prison, perhaps we all can meet at the Taco truck as I like Mexican food. You going to pull this one also Rich. "
CherryAna209 wrote on Aug 5, 2009 5:58 PM:
T & C wrote on Aug 5, 2009 5:47 PM:
your post at 3:52 pm made the most sense to me! "
T & C wrote on Aug 5, 2009 5:44 PM:
T & C wrote on Aug 5, 2009 5:42 PM:
gray cloud wrote on Aug 5, 2009 5:36 PM:
gray cloud wrote on Aug 5, 2009 5:35 PM:
I have no problem with shooting anyone in my house....and making sure they are dead. My neighbors all appreciate my attitude. "
religiousnonsense wrote on Aug 5, 2009 5:17 PM:
...but I see that you're also doing your part embarrassing white people by being an ignorant bigot. You should get in contact with Jorge and George, I think you'd hit it off well. "
T/AZ wrote on Aug 5, 2009 4:33 PM:
commentator wrote on Aug 5, 2009 3:26 PM:
commentator wrote on Aug 5, 2009 3:25 PM:
commentator wrote on Aug 5, 2009 3:17 PM:
pitbull wrote on Aug 5, 2009 3:12 PM:
leah wrote on Aug 5, 2009 2:37 PM:
pattygeez wrote on Aug 5, 2009 2:12 PM:
deblaw wrote on Aug 5, 2009 2:03 PM:
Are you familiar with hard work? Yes, it is worth defending... "
dyan wrote on Aug 5, 2009 1:22 PM:
reading wrote on Aug 5, 2009 12:40 PM:
Glad you stood up and at least were able to get a couple of them off the street for a little while. "
jnnym wrote on Aug 5, 2009 12:40 PM:
reading wrote on Aug 5, 2009 12:38 PM:
You are a full time blogger so I take you with a grain of salt.... you can't armchair the homeowner from a keyboard.
Obviously you haven't been ripped off yet, or regularly have dirtbags knocking on your door and cruising around the neighborhood trying to figure out when you're not home. I have, and recently chased an HM out of my garage and down the street. I was able to get a good description and PD called fairly quick....didn't help in my case as he got away. But it's a pretty solid bet that particular group won't be back soon.
Point is...don't let make it easy for them. If you want to roll over and let them win....that's your problem. "
WingIt wrote on Aug 5, 2009 12:18 PM:
NoLongerInLodi wrote on Aug 5, 2009 12:13 PM:
T & C wrote on Aug 5, 2009 11:30 AM:
T & C wrote on Aug 5, 2009 11:28 AM:
Come on Nick... is an XBox really wotrth your life? "
T & C wrote on Aug 5, 2009 11:26 AM:
Let me see a "Show if hands"! How many bloggers knowing bad guys are armed with guns is gonna chase their vehicle? "
LodiJoe wrote on Aug 5, 2009 10:30 AM:
LodiJoe wrote on Aug 5, 2009 10:28 AM:
LodiReaderFromStockton wrote on Aug 5, 2009 10:23 AM:
wtf wrote on Aug 5, 2009 10:11 AM:
jbhiker wrote on Aug 5, 2009 10:08 AM:
deblaw wrote on Aug 5, 2009 8:25 AM:
Comments on this story are now closed.