CALIFORNIA — An 18-year-old Corte Madera man was charged Tuesday with trying to break into cars belonging to police employees just a few feet from the Twin Cities police headquarters.
Christopher Berns was arrested Monday after two officers walked outside the building and saw him between a pickup and a sedan in the lot next door to the police building.
The pickup belonged to an officer and the sedan to a dispatcher.
“He was attempting to get into the pickup,” said Twin Cities Sgt. Don Hinton.
Police also detained a 14-year-old boy who broke into a Lexus. The boy was cited and released to his parents.
Berns was arraigned in Marin Superior Court on Tuesday on two felony counts of attempted auto burglary and one felony count of possession of stolen property, said Deputy District Attorney Linda Witong. He was also charged with prowling and obstructing police, both misdemeanors.
Berns pleaded not guilty. He is scheduled to return to court Friday to set a preliminary hearing.
Copyright 2007 Marin Independent Journal, a MediaNews Group publication