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SAN FERNANDO (CNS) - Criminal charges have been filed against a suspected serial burglar, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.
Benjamin Renteria, 25, was charged late Friday with nine counts of burglary, four counts of possession of a firearm by a felon and one count each of grand theft of a firearm, assault with a firearm and discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, according to Greg Risling of the District Attorney's Office.
The crimes were allegedly committed between mid-October and mid- November, according to Risling.
Renteria was arrested just before 11 p.m. last Wednesday near Wheatland Avenue and Wentworth Street in a hillside area of Shadow Hills near Hanson Dam.
A police dog made contact with Renteria in an area with heavy vegetation and began dragging him by the arm before officers arrived to take him into custody. The wanted man had been seen earlier crawling through brush in the area as he sought to evade police.
The arrest ended a three-day search for the man who police believe is responsible for several commercial and residential burglaries in Sunland, Shadow Hills and various communities throughout the northeast San Fernando Valley.
The suspect, who was captured on surveillance cameras multiple times armed with a rifle, was spotted Nov. 15 near the Green Verdugo Reservoir in close proximity to the Foothill (210) Freeway on property owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power before he ran away and eluded a police perimeter.
The suspect had not injured anyone during the alleged burglaries, but police were worried about the possibility that he could become violent due to the fact that he was often seen carrying guns and rifles.
In one incident, the man pointed a gun at a security guard but did not fire the weapon, LAPD Sgt. Eddie Gutierrez told KTLA5 last week.
Renteria -- who is due back in a San Fernando courtroom Jan. 6 -- remains jailed in lieu of $640,000 bail, according to jail records.