People v. Gonzales

Toby Gonzales, Jr., appeals from a conviction for residential burglary. We affirm.

I

On September 23, 1986, shortly after 11 a.m., Janice Borrelli was returning to her condominium in Moraga when she noticed an unfamiliar car parked in the area. As she entered the front door, she saw a pile of her own and her roommates’ belongings a few feet inside. When she called out “hello,” she heard a gasp and the sound of someone brushing up against the wall. As she turned around and left the apartment, the front door slammed behind her. Frightened, she dropped her purse and some other things she was carrying, ran down the street and hailed a group of construction workers. She returned to her apartment with them and telephoned the police, giving a description of the strange car she had seen. The car was no longer there, and her purse, which she had dropped in her haste, was gone. The items she had seen stacked by the front door were also gone.

Within a few minutes, Borrelli heard a police siren. She went outside, got into her car, and followed a police car she saw chasing an automobile down the street. She followed until she found the police car, together with the other car she…