Police: Armed Homeowner Greets, Scares Off Palm Desert Burglar

A 22-year-old parolee was back behind bars Friday, suspected of smashing in the door of a local homeowner, who in turn scared the man off, as he was armed, police reported.

It all started around 10 p.m. Thursday night, when deputies from the Palm Desert Police Department responded to the 40700 block of Sandpiper Court-- near Country Club Dr. and Portola Ave.-- for a home burglary call, sheriff's Sergeant Brad Farwell said.

The suspect, later identified as Francisco Granados of Palm Desert, allegedly tried to smash a rear sliding glass door at that house, then ran into and through a nearby residence in the 40900 block of Sandpiper, sheriff's Sgt. Brad Farwell said.

"Deputies conducted a door to door search and discovered Granados had smashed a rear sliding glass door to a residence in the 100 block of Courtside Dive," Farwell said.

"The armed homeowner confronted Granados and Granados fled the area," he added.  "While fleeing, Granados dropped a realistic looking pellet gun, which was recovered by law enforcement."

Deputies eventually tracked down Granados in a nearby parking lot and arrested him about 1:30 a.m. He was booked into the county jail in Indio on suspicion of burglary and violating parole and was held without bail.

-City News Service contributed to this report.