West Valley family hides as 4 burglars break in

WEST VALLEY CITY — Four people were arrested Tuesday following another case of burglars breaking into a house that was still occupied.

Just after 8 p.m., three adults and a juvenile knocked on a door and rang the doorbell of a home near 5700 West and 5400 South. No one came to the door, so the group went to the back, said West Valley Police Lt. Bill Merritt.

The group thought no one was home. What they didn't know was that the female homeowner was on her way to open the door when the burglars kicked in the back door leading into the garage, he said.

"She grabbed her kids, ages 3 and 13, ran upstairs and locked themselves in a bedroom," Merritt said.

The burglars were apparently unaware that anyone else was in the house and that the homeowner was calling police, he said. When officers arrived, they found the brazen thieves had parked their minivan right in the driveway.

"Some people are under the notion if you act normal, people won't call the cops on you. And to a point that's true," Merritt said.

Officers arrested the burglars without incident.

Selene Fortune, 26; Laura Sanchez, 19; Chris Brown, 18; and a 17-year-old male were arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail and juvenile detention.

"I don't think they knew (the family was) in the house," Merritt said. "They wouldn't stick around for a confrontation. More often than not, the suspects don't stick around."

Merritt said incidents of burglars breaking into houses in which the homeowner is still present happen more often than many people might think. In West Valley City, it happens an average of two to three times a week, he said. The burglars typically go the front doors of houses and knock first. If someone answers, they'll make up a story such as looking for a lost dog.

But if no one answers, the burglars will go to the back and try to enter the house through a door or window, Merritt said. What they don't want is to confront the homeowner, but in some cases the occupants of the house don't answer the door for whatever reason, Merritt said. When the homeowner comes face-to-face with an intruder, many times the intruder will make up an excuse that they accidentally entered the wrong house, he said.

Earlier this month, an 11-year-old Salt Lake boy hid under his bed while burglars broke into his house, apparently unaware that anyone else was home. The very next day in an unrelated incident, a 16-year-old Provo girl hid in her shower after burglars broke into her house. In both cases the juveniles called police while hiding. The burglar in the Provo incident was arrested.

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