Meet Los Gatos' 'Citizen Cop'

Los Gatos resident Geoff Beale has become a citizen cop, taking crime solving into his own hands recently and helping police apprehend a burglar early Tuesday morning after he stole his daughter's bike from his driveway on Oct. 17.

Beale, who owns and operates an alarm company in Los Gatos under the name of , set up a sort of sting operation Monday evening after reviewing videotapes that showed the burglar outside his home on Nob Hill Way several times for the past few weeks.

Los Gatos Monte Sereno police Sgt. Kerry Harris corroborated that his officers had indeed taken a police report from Beale on the date of the crime and that officers responded to Beale's call Tuesday after he chased the burglar down to a neighborhood across from the Jewish Community Center where they arrested him.

The suspect has been identified as 28-year-old Juan Sanchez. 

"It felt a little odd doing it [a sting operation] for my family's well being when I am usually doing it for others," Beale said referring to his alarm company, which he has operated in town for several years.

At around 4 a.m., Tuesday, officers stopped Sanchez' car at Oka Road and West Mozart Avenue and discovered he was wearing the same camouflaged hooded jacket that he was wearing on Beale's surveillance videos.

Sgt. Harris said a petty theft complaint has been filed against Sanchez and is being sought from the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. He said Sanchez is working to recover the bike and return it to Beale.

"The department appreciates the assistance and participation of our residents in keeping Los Gatos an extremely safe place to live and work," Harris said.

"Obviously we don't want residents to take the law into their own hands, but the use of the cameras is a smart way to handle it. But we generally don't recommend for a resident to physically detain someone because a person could be armed and it's not worth the risk involved," Harris added.

According to Beale, he set his alarm clock for 3:20 a.m. Tuesday and placed his daughter's old bike on the driveway. He then moved one of his company vans onto the street and hid inside.

About 10 minutes passed and, right on schedule, he said he saw the suspect's car's headlights turn onto his street and began following him. The driver matched the description he had of the burglar on the surveillance tapes. He then immediately called police.

Beale then began pursuing the suspect, staying six inches from his bumper the whole time, he said. "There was no way I was going to let this guy get away," he said.

The 44-year-old dad said while he was talking to the dispatcher, the suspect turned, looked at him, waived a newspaper, and said he was making deliveries while on his route.

By this time, police were already on their way to help Beale with the arrest.

However, at that point, the suspect fled, but Beale chased him down Oka Road and blocked him at the Landmark Apartments, he said.

The dispatcher, who was with him on the phone the whole time, told him police were there and to return to his house and wait for them.

"As soon as I drove off ... police caught the guy. He confessed to the whole thing once the police advised him of the video footage that we had," Beale said.

Today is his daughter Ashlyn's 11th birthday and police have told him he will get her $150 Avigo bike back.

"It appears that someone decided to put my skills to the test," Beale said. "I didn't think that anyone would be so bold as to steal something from my driveway.

"The bike was not of importance to me. What was hard to bear was the look on my little girl's face as tears rolled down her cheek. At that point I was determined to get some form of closure to this whole ordeal and make my daughter happy again."

Was this thief also dumb and clueless? "I have a van, truck, signs and surveillance cameras which all have my company logo plastered everywhere ... It is not easily missed," Beale noted.

Beale said after officers apprehended the suspect, one cop visited him at home and gave him a high five. "Apparently there have been a lot of stolen bikes lately. I was very impressed with the police department and they expressed their gratitude to me for getting involved."