Burglary Suspect Trips in Canyon, Falls at Deputies' Feet

Two men accused of burglarizing two homes and stealing a car in Rancho Palos Verdes were arraigned Thursday in Torrance Court, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lomita Station.

Newport Beach resident Andrew Gatling, 24, and Westminster resident Roy Ortega were booked Tuesday on multiple felonies, including burglary, possession of stolen property, and possession of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine, according to LASD.

Deputies arrested the pair after receiving a call at about 6 a.m. Tuesday about a "suspicious male sleeping in a black Honda Civic," which authorities determined was stolen from Costa Mesa, parked on Toprail Lane.

As the witness was speaking with deputies, another car pulled next to the Civic, and a man got out and spoke with the man in the Civic. The two began moving items from one car to another, deputies said.

Investigators later discovered that the items had been taken from a house on Toprail Lane, deputies said.

When deputies tried to detain the two, the man with the Civic complied; however, the other man ran into Colt Canyon. 

"After several minutes of flailing, falling, and stumbling through thick brush and cacti in his futile attempt to escape, the suspect fell out from bushes at the feet of deputies that had been waiting at the bottom of the canyon for him," according to the news release.

Authorities believe Gatling and Ortega drove to the area in the stolen Civic, committed two residential burglaries, and stole a second car. Deputies returned the stolen property to its rightful owners.

As of 3:30 p.m., both men were being held at the Lomita Station on $50,000 bail. Details from the arraignment weren't immediately available.