Wannabe burglars storm Real Housewives star’s mansion – only to get spooked by alarm, crash getaway car: cops
A trio of thieves allegedly attempted to break into "Real Housewives of Miami" star Larsa Pippen's multimillion-dollar mansion over the weekend, police said.
According to the Pineview Police Department, the three men descended onto Pippen's South Florida mansion on Sunday.
The group shattered several windows, but were stopped after the home's alarm system alerted police, prompting a high-stakes arrest. The breakout Bravo star was not home at the time of the attempted robbery.
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Treison Lachae Booker, 23; Cortez Daymon Johnson, 23; and Elijah Eugene Russell, 18, were all caught within minutes of the botched break-in, police said.
Police said Pippen, the 51-year-old ex-wife of NBA legend Scottie Pippen, watched the attempt on her surveillance video as police were dispatched to a burglar alarm report.
According to Local 10, Pinecrest Police Chief Jason Cohen also responded to the scene and saw the frazzled trio attempting to ditch the scene.
Cohen told the outlet he saw the three jump into a car which then crashed into another car and a fence. Cohen said he personally apprehended Russell.
"I spot (Russell) walking. He’s trying to walk away, out of the area. It’s just me and him. I get out of my car, I order him to the ground," Cohen told Local 10. "I start running after him. He crosses Kendall Drive, into a house’s yard. He jumps the fence. I open the gate to the fence. I walk in. He then jumps into the back, which is the canal back there too, the Snapper Creek Canal. He jumps into the canal. When I get to the canal bank, he’s hanging on."
Cohen said it was his first foot pursuit in 15 years.
"If he didn’t jump into the canal, he probably had me," he said.
Cohen said investigators believe Pippen was likely targeted by the Peach State trio, but they’re "working to confirm" that.
"They came from Georgia [and] it looks like they went straight to this house," he said. "So that’s the theory our detectives are going on."
Cohen told WSVN 7 News Local that Pippen's alarm system saved the day.
"Her house was locked. Her alarm was on. Her alarm was what ended up scaring these guys off the property," he said.
The three men are now facing charges, including attempted burglary. All three were being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on bonds ranging from $7,500 to $8,000.