Cops catch burglar in Round Lake Park trailer home

Round Lake Park police say a report from an alert resident allowed them to catch a man inside a mobile home he was trying to burglarize Tuesday morning.

Luis Ruiz, 29, of the 200 block of Newhouse Lane in Round Lake Park, was charged with one count of residential burglary and one count of obstructing justice, Police Chief George Filenko said.

Filenko said a 911 emergency call was placed about 9:30 a.m. by a man who lives next to the trailer home Ruiz targeted. He said the caller told the dispatcher someone entered the home who didn't belong there.

Ruiz was described by the man as 5-foot, 9-inches tall and wearing a black hoodie and orange sweatpants, Filenko said. Police arrived within two minutes to the home in the 400 block of Cedar Lane.

Filenko said Ruiz was about to flee when he noticed the police and ducked back into the mobile home. He said three officers entered the home through a side door and found Ruiz inside.

Police found a 42-inch television on the kitchen floor. Filenko said the TV was removed from a rear bedroom.

Filenko said there was evidence Ruiz rifled through other areas of the home. He said Ruiz told officers he was a resident of the trailer, but a police check showed the claim to be false.

Filenko credited the 911 caller for alerting police after seeing Ruiz enter the home.

"That really was the key to this, how quickly the neighbor identified someone who didn't belong there," he said.

Ruiz, who is unemployed, lives near the mobile home he tried to burglarize, Filenko said.