Neighbor Catches Thieves On Video Breaking Into Tented Home

MANHATTAN BEACH (CBSLA) — CBS2's Serene Branson shows us how a neighbor stopped burglars in the act, and helped police catch four crooks.

Michael Cardoza always keeps an eye on his Manhattan beach neighborhood so when his neighbor let him know he'd be gone and that his house was being fumigated, he offered to keep an eye out.

Monday night, Cardoza's wife spotted people sitting in a car out front of their neighbor's house. Cardoza watched on their security cameras as two guys approached his neighbors tented house.

"I shouted to them and said 'hey you shouldn't be back here' that's when they approached me."

Caught red handed, the guys took off.

"I watched which way they went and told my wife to call 911, I  jumped in my jeep and followed them," Cardoza said.

Cardoza  followed them until Manhattan Beach police officers pulled them over, and arrested three men and a teenager.  They're trying to see if they're connected to other tented home burglaries.

Just two months ago in Sylmar two guys broke into a tented house. One got so sick from fumes he had to be hospitalized.

"They'll go to any length to break into your home," Cardoza said.

The former Marine  says he just did what felt right and safe to him,  and hopes that as houses sit empty over the holidays, everyone does their part by being a good witness.

"Everybody should be so lucky to have a neighbor like you," the owner of the tented home told Cardoza.