A man released from the Salt Lake County Jail on Thursday was arrested Monday morning following at least one home invasion and an attempt at a second.
The 44-year-old man tried to break into a home near 200 East and 2500 South by cutting one of the window screens with a knife, said South Salt Lake police Sgt. Steve Daniels.
A woman inside the house saw the man before he entered and scared him away.
A short time later, investigators said the same man forced his way into a basement apartment just a few blocks away. A woman sleeping inside the apartment awoke to find the man standing near her and pointing a knife at her, Daniels said.
He held the knife just a few inches away from her but didn't say a word, Daniels said. He then took a DVD player and left.
Police however were already in the area. Neighbors had spotted the man prowling around and called 911 to report the suspicious activity.
Officers spotted a man getting into a van, and a short chase ensued. Near 2500 South and West Temple, the man, , who was the passenger in the van, jumped out and ran while the vehicle and driver kept going, Daniels said.
Backup officers and police dogs were called into the area to search for the man who bailed out of the vehicle. After about 45 minutes of searching, the dogs flushed out a man who was lying down in a back yard, Daniels said. The man had changed shirts and said he wasn't the person police were looking for, he said.
But the man had cuts all over his hands supposedly from jumping over fences. He also was identified by the woman from the first incident and the neighbors who had called police, Daniels said. Detectives found the stolen DVD player in the man's backpack.
Salt Lake City police Monday were investigating a weekend incident in which a man entered a person's room near 2200 South Foothill Blvd., brandished a gun, took the victim's TV and watch, and left. Investigators were trying to determine if the incidents were related.
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