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Home Surveillance System Credited With Catching A Crook

CARMICHAEL (CBS13) — Pictures taken on a home surveillance system helped cops catch a suspected crook. The Carmichael homeowner came face to face with the suspect, then turned the tapes over to the sheriff's department.

Many of the residents CBS13 spoke with Tuesday night in the nice Carmichael neighborhood tell us that even though the suspect is still in the Sacramento County jail, they still don't feel safe.

"It's kind of gotten scary," said one of the victim's neighbors, Suzanne Hatzenbiler. "I mean, nice neighborhood, but we just didn't expect something like this."

Residents on this quiet Carmichael street feel they're being targeted by predator thieves.

"It's becoming kind of rampant," Hatzenbiler said.

Investigators believe 18-year-old Grigoriy Bukhantsov is a thief, and they say they have the video to prove it.

"This is a great example of why home video surveillance systems can come in handy," said Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Deputy Jason Ramos.

Video stills of Bukhantsov taken by his victim's home security system show him casing the place.

"She heard the neighbor's dog barking, which isn't uncommon," Hatzenbiler said of her neighbor's description of the encounter. "But then she heard a kind of thud."

The thief was inside.

"She didn't have a weapon, but she did grab some scissors and used a deep voice and came down the stairs and said, 'Who's in here?'"

They came face to face.

"She said instinct kind of took over and she just said, 'Drop the bag and get out of my house now.'"

Deputies say he kept the bag and her stolen iPod in his pants pocket, hopped the fence and ran to a Mexican restaurant several blocks away.

Investigators tell CBS13 the suspect ran into the restaurant with the iPod still in his pants, stripped off his pants and then ran into the restroom.

Minutes later cops used the video to broadcast his description. The suspect was caught and the iPod recovered.
The home security video saved the day.

"We certainly don't need the holiday season spoiled for something like this," Ramos said.

The suspect is still being held on $60,000 bail.

Many of the neighbors we spoke with say they're going to start a more aggressive neighborhood watch program.

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