BURNEY – Man arrested during residential burglary of occupied home

Kaitlyn Bradshaw, contributing writer

 

Burney – Deputies from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Burney Station arrested a man Saturday, April 09, after the man allegedly broke into a woman’s residence while she was sleeping in her room. After breaking into the occupied house, located in the 37000 block of Blue Way, the man reportedly went to sleep in a bed inside the residence.

Deputies arrested Derek Shepherd, 28, and he was later booked into county jail.

Deputies were initially dispatched to the residence about 4:54 a.m., after SHASCOM received a 911 call from the owner of the residence, identified as 66-year-old Cynthia White.

White told SHASCOM emergency communications dispatchers she believed someone had broken into in her home. She told dispatchers she had locked herself in her bedroom after hearing sounds coming from her living room. She also told dispatchers she was the only person authorized to be inside the residence.

Deputies arrived within 20 minutes and with assistance from a sheriff’s K9, they discovered someone had opened White’s back gate, allowing access onto her property.

Deputies cautiously searched the property before they entered the residence and began a room to room search for the reported intruder. They eventually discovered Shepherd laying on a bed in one of the rooms in the house. Deputies could not see Shepherd’s hands and they believed he was pretending to be asleep.

With guns drawn and with the K9 barking, deputies attempted to communicate with Shepherd, issuing loud verbal commands for him to remove his hands from under his body and exit the bedroom. Despite their efforts, Shepherd allegedly continued to ignore the deputies. Because Shepherd would not acknowledge the deputies presence or listen to their orders, deputies were forced to deploy K9 “Blitz,” at which time Shepherd was detained.

White told investigating deputies she did not know Shepherd or how he entered her home. Deputies searched the perimeter of the home and found a screen to a window that had been cut out allowing Shepherd to gain entry into the occupied home. Shepherd was found to be in possession of a razor knife believed to have been used to cut the screen out of the open window.

Paramedics responded to the location to medically evaluate bites Shepherd’s received from the sheriff’s K9. After being evaluated at the scene, Shepherd was transported to a local medical facility for further treatment of wounds related to being bitten by the sheriff’s K9.

After being medically cleared, deputies transported Shepherd to the Shasta County Jail where he was booked for burglary and resisting arrest.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is encouraged to contact Sergeant Quentin Johnston at (530) 245-6540. Callers can refer to incident file number 16-12549 and can remain anonymous.

 

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