Man Suspected In At Least 9 Irvine Home Burglaries Captured After Chase
IRVINE (CBSLA) – A 20-year-old man wanted in at least nine home burglaries around Irvine in which tens of thousands of dollars' worth of items were taken was caught Wednesday following a foot pursuit.
Going back to December, Ismail Luqman Wasi of Irvine is suspected of breaking into several homes in the University Park neighborhood and other areas through unlocked doors.
He was arrested after Irvine police responded to a break-in at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday on Gillman Street.
According to police, a female resident was awakened by noise coming from inside the house and discovered Wasi in one of the rooms holding a laptop computer.
He fled and then broke into more homes on Dewberry and Sandburg ways that same morning, police said, before later being spotted near Rancho San Joaquin Golf Course.
At around 7:25 a.m. Wednesday, he was located by police and caught following a brief foot chase.
At the time of his arrest, Wasi was holding items stolen from the Gillman home burglary and a December burglary at the San Leon apartments, police said. Investigators later discovered a storage unit linked to Wasi containing even more stolen items, police disclosed.
Wasi is being jailed on $1 million bail. Anyone who believes they were burglarized by Wasi should contact detectives at 949-724-7124.
