Surveillance video captured the moment a group of teens attempted to burglarize a home in San Bernardino County.
The suspects targeted the home on the 1100 block of Cedar Court in Upland around 11:30 p.m. on Monday night.
The homeowner, Jamie Asanovich, had left to make an Uber Eats delivery while her elderly mother was still inside the house.
But just minutes after driving away, her Ring doorbell camera alerted her that someone was at their front door.
“My mom called and she said, ‘Someone’s at the door knocking,’” recalled Asanovich. “I could see him on the Ring doorbell and I said, ‘I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t answer the door.’”
Within minutes, Asanovich’s mother called her back, feeling scared as three suspects had jumped over the fence and into their backyard.
The grandmother turned on a yard light and saw the suspects begin removing a window screen and attempting to enter the home.
Asanovich turned her car around and immediately rushed back home while calling the police to report the in-progress burglary.
As she approached her home, she spotted the suspects running to a getaway car and speeding away. She decided to follow them while letting the police dispatcher know their every move.
“When they got into the freeway, I kind of lost them because their lights were off,” Asanovich said.
She exited the freeway at Archibald Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga and spotted the suspects’ car turning into an apartment complex near 19th Street and Hermosa Avenue.
Upland police officers arrived at the complex shortly after and arrested five teen suspects inside the vehicle. The driver was an 18-year-old female and the other four suspects were juveniles.
“We did find some flashlights, a screwdriver and a hammer,” said Sgt. Jacob Kirk with Upland Police. “Some of the juveniles were site-released and one of them was booked into juvenile hall and the adult was booked. It was for attempted residential burglary.”
Police said the juvenile who was booked was on probation for a previous theft-related charge at the time.
Even though the victims weren’t hurt, Asanovich and her mother remain stunned and shaken.
“My mom turned a light on and that’s when they got scared and jumped over a fence and that’s when I got [back home],” Asanovich said. “But I think, ‘What if the window was open and they actually got in? What were they going to do to her?’”
Asanovich believes the suspects may be local high school kids who knew that her daughter was out of town in Hawaii.
Police have not confirmed a motive behind the attempted burglary, but Asanovich hopes the teens will learn their lesson before attempting to commit future crimes.