Bungling burglars are caught after leaving a drop of blood on cushion
A pair of clumsy burglars were caught after they were seen on an app breaking into a house, leaving a drop of blood on a cushion and parking their car in the same area two days running to decide which home to target.
Alvaro Agudelo, 33, was sentenced to 20 months for burglary and attempted burglary while his partner in crime Esteban Llancaman, 40, was sentenced to 15 months for burglary on Friday.
On June 28, 2023, a woman was doing the school run when she got a notification on her mobile phone that her home security system had detected movement in the back garden. She watched live footage on her phone app of two men dressed in balaclavas sneaking into her back garden and breaking into her house by climbing onto a low roof and entering the property through a first-floor window.
Esteban Llancaman was in the car when it was stopped by Met Police officers (Surrey Police)The dash cam footage revealed a grey Toyota Corolla parked near the house on both the day of the burglary and the day before. The car, registered in London and insured to someone else in Luton, had been spotted entering Surrey from Brixton early in the morning on both days.
Police believed this car was used to watch residents' movements, so they marked its licence plate for immediate stop by any officers. On July 6 - just eight days later - Metropolitan Police Officers stopped the vehicle in Lambeth. Inside were Agudelo and Llancaman, along with several mobile phones and a rucksack filled with tools like screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches and lock picking equipment.
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Both men were arrested on suspicion of preparing for a burglary and for the burglary in Banstead. Their mobile phones placed them at the crime scene and showed they had taken photos and videos of some of the stolen items, My London says.
Agueldo was also charged with an attempted burglary from 2021. On the evening of June 11, 2021, a couple in Epsom heard breaking glass and saw two men trying to break into a nearby home.
The robbers had entered the back conservatory of the house but fled when they were interrupted. They didn't take anything, but they left behind a vital clue. Surrey Police's forensic officers found a tiny drop of blood on a cushion that was used to cover the broken glass as the burglars came in and out. The blood was later matched to Agudelo through DNA analysis.
Detective Constable McBain, from Surrey's Proactive Investigation Team, expressed his satisfaction: "I am incredibly pleased to see these two thieves behind bars. Burglary is an invasive crime which can leave people feeling unsafe in their own homes. Often the items taken are not even particularly high value but are hugely sentimental such as wedding gifts and family heirlooms."
"These men came into our county with the sole intention of committing crime but were brought to justice by digital technology and some good forensic work."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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