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York Road resident returns home to find alleged burglars in driveway, gives chase

By Howard B. Owens

When a Pavilion resident of York Road returned home about 4 p.m., Friday, he found a light-colored minivan parked in his driveway and unknown man sitting in the driver's seat.

As he pulled into the driveway, the van took off.

The homeowner followed the van and called police.

Troopers and Sheriff's deputies from Genesee, Wyoming and Livingston counties converged on the area. The State Police also brought in their helicopter to assist in the pursuit.

The suspect vehicle was stopped on Route 246 in Covington. 

Arrested were Alexis Santiago, 34, of Columbus Avenue, Mt. Morris, and Roman E. Esparza, 22, of South Main Street, Batavia.

Santiago and Esparza were both charged with burglary, 2nd, and jailed on $100,000 bail each.

The two men may be suspects in a series of other burglaries in a three-county area.

As the suspects fled the York Road residence, the men tossed items from the window of the minivan that were allegedly stolen from the house they had just left. The York Road homeowner later identified the items as his. 

Once stopped, Santiago and Esparza were arrested without incident and the van was seized pending investigators receiving a search warrant for the van and its contents.

The case remains under investigation and, because the two men may be suspects in other burglaries, the Sheriff's Office is asking that anybody who might have information that could aid the investigation to call (585) 343-5000. For tips in Livingston or Wyoming counties, callers should contact their local Sheriff departments.

Photos: Top, Esparza; bottom, Santiago.

Doug Yeomans

Alexis has also been a guest for burglary in our fine prison system:

DIN (Department Identification Number) 99B1925
Inmate Name SANTIAGO, ALEXIS
Sex MALE
Date of Birth 04/22/1977
Race / Ethnicity HISPANIC
Custody Status RELEASED
Housing Releasing Facility FIVE POINTS
Date Received (Original) 09/03/1999
Date Received (Current) 06/03/2008
Admission Type
County of Commitment LIVINGSTON
Latest Release Date / Type (Released Inmates Only) 09/26/08 PAROLE DIV OF PAROLE

BURGLARY 2ND C

Aggregate Minimum Sentence 0000 Years, 00 Months, 00 Days
Aggregate Maximum Sentence 0010 Years, 00 Months, 00 Days
Earliest Release Date
Earliest Release Type
Parole Hearing Date
Parole Hearing Type FULL MAXIMUM
Parole Eligibility Date
Conditional Release Date NONE
Maximum Expiration Date 07/07/2010
Maximum Expiration Date for Parole Supervision
Post Release Supervision Maximum Expiration Date 07/07/2010
Parole Board Discharge Date

Nov 12, 2011, 10:11am Permalink
C. M. Barons

Doug, either the information you linked to has been removed, or I am failing to see the evidence supporting your inference.

The Department of Homeland Security estimated in December 2003 that 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens resided in the United States and 700,000 new illegals enter and stay each year. Assume there are currently 18 million undocumented aliens living in the U.S. Undocumented aliens represent 17% of U.S. prison population. (Not all undocumented aliens are Hispanic)

The racial composition of the US population as of 2008 was 79.79% White American (65.60% non-Hispanic and 14.19% Hispanic), 12.84% African American (12.22% non-Hispanic and 0.62% Hispanic), 4.45% Asian American (4.35% non-Hispanic and 0.10% Hispanic), 1.01% American Indian or Alaska Native (0.76% non-Hispanic and 0.25% Hispanic), 0.18% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander American (0.14% non-Hispanic and 0.04% Hispanic), and 1.69% Multiracial American (1.64% non-Hispanic and 0.05% Hispanic). 15.25% of the total US population identified their ethnicity as Hispanic.[4] (source Wikipedia)

At the end of 2005, there were 1,525,924 persons incarcerated in state and
federal prisons; 40 percent of these inmates were black, 35 percent were white, and 20 percent were Hispanic (Harrison & Beck 2006). (source Justice Policy Journal)

Nov 12, 2011, 3:07pm Permalink
Doug Yeomans

CM, I'm pretty sure I found out that one of them is not an illegal. I asked if they were illegal and then posted a link that Santiago was in fact from Pennsylvania and then I posted what I found pertaining to his prison record.

I clearly stated that I had answered my own question about one of them. I still don't know if Esparza is an illegal or not. He's not showing in the NYS inmate lookup and has no presence on facebook under that name.

From Santiago's facebook profile:
"Lives in Mount Morris, New York - From Allentown, Pennsylvania"

Nov 13, 2011, 1:18pm Permalink
JT Hunt

never mind following the van. what type of vehicle did the homeowner drive? if he had a car, i would have used the police "tip drill" procedure. your front quarter panel into their rear one. not rocket science. if he had a real pickup truck (anything bigger than a S-10 or F-150) he should have just rammed them off the road.

Nov 13, 2011, 2:49pm Permalink
bud prevost

Thank you for the clarification, Jessica. What he DID was illegal, he's actually (allegedly) a criminal.

Nov 15, 2011, 1:15pm Permalink

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