Early Morning Bandit Takes Off with Gold

A rash of burglaries in Mission Viejo have hit close to home for many residents and have become a reminder that even a locked house can be emptied in a half-hour as Jim Hetyes found out last Wednesday.

When Jim's mother-in-law left home for 35 minutes to take one of the kids to school, something was amiss.

“She noted that the sliding glass door was ajar, "he said. "She called 911.”

Hetyes lives in the 23700 block of Aventura, just south of Alicia Park. He said that the thief took both odd and precious items from his home.

“The biggest hit was jewelry from our mother in law--a lot of one-of-a-kind stuff,” he said.  “They also took weird electronics - we have two computers and they took the smaller, older computer monitor, an old calculator from my dresser and a cell phone from eight or nine years ago.”

Hetyes said that the burglar probably entered and exited their side yard, since the wooden gate, which requires some force to shut, was left open and is where his next-door neighbor spotted the culprit.

“My neighbor didn’t see him come in, but he saw the guy leaving,” he said. “He first thought it was me because of my blonde hair, lean build and about my height but when he took another look he had, like, two bags and was walking to a car across the street.” 

The neighbor said that the getaway car was an older Toyota Camry.

“I initially thought he might have been casing the area, but it could be a random thing,” Jim said.

Police received the call around 10:12 a.m.

Last week police arrested a 16- and 17-year-old in connection with a rash of burglaries in the Casa Loma apartment complex on the northwest corner of Oso and Marguerite. No word yet on whether the burglaries are connected with Hetyes' break-in.