The People v. Vermeulen CA2/8

BACKGROUND

On October 7, 2008, sometime after 5:20 p.m., Lisa Carter arrived at the house she shared with her two sons on Atlantic Boulevard in Alhambra, which she had rented since 2002 from Julia Foxman, the owner. Defendant was inside an unknown car parked in her driveway. When asked if she could help him, defendant asked for Foxman twice. Carter responded both times Foxman did not live there. Carter noticed the gate in her fence was ajar and a sprinkled trail of coins led from behind the gate to the car. When asked if he had broken into the house, defendant replied, “No.” She said she was calling the police, wrote down the car’s license plate number, and called “911.” Defendant drove away. Upon examining her home’s exterior, Carter saw a rear bedroom window was open and its screen was missing. Once inside, she noticed her laptop computer and the laptop and a digital camera belonging to one son along with the money jar belonging to her other son were missing. The items had been located in different rooms. She did not give anyone permission to take the items. The Alhambra police traced the car license plate number to defendant. Carter identified him from a photographic lineup.…