Oroville man tackles suspect burglar mid-theft

Residents of an Oroville neighborhood say their homes have been targeted by thieves many times in the last few years.

Now one man says the thieves aren't deterred by anything, not even surveillance cameras.

So recently, he took matters into his own hands, literally...

“So I got a call from a neighbor at 5-ish telling me that someone was breaking into my car,” said Greg Abrew.

He says he's fed up.

“I'm tired of being ripped off and I’m putting a stop to it,” he said.

Even if it means tackling a suspected thief.

“So I ended up putting her on the ground, sitting on her so she wouldn't struggle anymore,” he recalled. “Struggle, it was a struggle.”

He says this woman, later identified by the Butte County Sheriff's office as 31-year-old Angelica Barerra was caught with stolen items, and lots of hard drugs.

“She was throwing all kinds of baggies out,” he said.

But Bararra didn't go quietly.

“Foul language it was bad,” he said.

Abrew says in recent years, he and his neighbors have been targeted, with thieves taking everything from tools, to ATVs, even a boat and usually the burglars get away.

“It's getting bad,” he said.

Abrew has installed all kinds of security: from warning signs, to several surveillance cameras.

But it doesn't make one bit of difference.

“It's not stopping them and I don't know what I’m going to have to do next to stop them,” he said.

So what does he blame?

“Drugs, I really think these drugs are getting to people,” he said. “If we can help them, great I prefer to help them than put them in jail, but they're going to have to want to help themselves