Feisty Grandma Detains Burglary Suspects

An 81-year-old grandmother who followed a burglary suspect ordered him to get into her van, tell her his name and to think about his mother on Thursday afternoon.

Yolanda Croyle, whose grandson was in the van after she had picked him up from school, was pulling up outside her house on the 3600 block of Breckenridge Drive when she noticed a man running out with trash bags filled with items taken from her home. Croyle said when the man saw her, he started running toward a gold, four-door 2008 Ford Fusion that was parked two houses down from hers.

Police said the driver of the car, 20-year-old Sergio Alfredo Dominguez, began to back up the car and crashed into a rock wall, causing the Fusion to flip over. That’s when police say 20-year-old David Rivera put down the bags of stolen items and began to flee on foot.

But Croyle didn’t let him get away. Instead, she told her 13-year-old grandson, C.J. Croyle, to get out of the van and call police, and she followed Rivera.

During an interview outside her home Friday, Croyle said she followed Rivera until he stopped, and ordered him to get in her car. Croyle also snapped a few pictures of him with her cellphone camera and asked him for his name and information.

“You either stop or I’ll run you over,'” Croyle said she told Rivera, who listened.

Croyle said she drove Rivera back to the scene and noticed that Dominguez was sitting on the curb next to the Fusion, which came to rest on its roof. No injuries were reported in the crash.

“It’s a good thing I wasn’t in there, I tell you, because it would have been bad. He would have lost his eyes or his. … He would’ve been in trouble,” Croyle said.

Rivera, of the 12600 block of Sun Flare Drive, and Dominguez, of the 11900 block of Greenveil Drive, were arrested on suspicion of burglary of habitation. They were booked into the El Paso County Jail, with bonds of $10,000 each. Police said Rivera was also booked on eight outstanding traffic warrants.

“All this doesn’t pay,” Croyle said. “And then how stupid, you know. They had nothing but penny ante stuff in there. I mean, if you’re going to do the job, do a good job about it.”

Link:Arrest photos.