Last fall we reported that a resident helped prevent burglary when he saw an unknown man standing on his neighbor’s porch and called 911. A similar situation occurred earlier this week, according to police.

On Tuesday, Feb. 12, at about 11:15 a.m., officers from the 18th district responded to a “burglary in progress” call on the 4500 block of Sansom Street.  A witness told police that he had observed a man trying to force his way through the front window. The witness chased the man from the porch and police found him a block away on another front porch on the 4400 block of Sansom.

Police chased the man down Sansom and observed him discard a black handgun before apprehending him after a brief struggle on the 4400 block of Chestnut Street. Police recovered the loaded handgun, which had been reported stolen. The suspect was carrying a bag that contained an Amazon Kindle, two digital cameras, two iPods and a tablet computer. Police say he confessed to burglaries on the 4500 block of Pine Street, the 400 block of S. 45th Street, and the 4500 block of Sansom.