Man Caught Burglarizing Royal City Home On Video Surveillance

An Othello man is in jail after being caught breaking into a residence on surveillance video.

On Friday around 8 a.m., deputies with the Grant County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the 11600 block of State Route 26 near Royal City, after a homeowner reported receiving an alert from his home monitoring system.

"The homeowner also drove back to his home after receiving the alert and he found a suspect vehicle in his driveway," says Sheriff's office spokesperson, Kyle Foreman. "The suspect then drove away with the homeowner following. A deputy soon found the vehicle at a gas station in Royal City. The suspect was detained and his image was then matched to the images on the surveillance footage."

A subsequent investigation revealed both the door to the home and its garage had been forced open.

Forty-seven-year-old Erasmo Gutierrez was arrested on suspicion of burglary in the second degree.

Gutierrez reportedly told deputies he entered the home to find a battery that would help him jump-start his car.

Foreman says civilian video surveillance is leading to the capture and arrest of more and more suspects in Grant County all the time.

"People who have security cameras are able to provide us with evidence that's crucial to solving crimes, especially if they have a high-quality camera system - one that has very high resolution so we can use it as evidence. The higher the resolution, the better the chances are that we'll be able to match the images on the video footage to the actual person."

Gutierrez is currently being held in the Grant County Jail.