ANTIOCH -- Antioch police unwittingly surprised two hapless burglars Tuesday night when officers -- and their dogs -- arrived for a training exercise at an abandoned building where the pair were attempting to steal copper wire.
To the burglars' dismay, the officers arrived at 6:12 p.m. at the 40,000-square-foot building at 1700 West 4th St.
For the exercise, an officer entered and hid inside, and the other officers and their dogs then were to find and "apprehend" him.
As is routine, one of the dog handlers shouted an announcement before the search -- that a police dog was about to be deployed and that anyone inside should give up or risk being bit.
To their surprise, James Ayers, 26, of Bethel Island, "wisely decided that he did not want to be bitten by a police dog and exited his hiding place," said Antioch police Sgt. Tammany Brooks.
The officers then decided to conduct a real building search, whereupon they found and arrested Frederick Guilliee, 38, of Antioch.
Ayers was arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia and was being held in lieu of $25,000 bail at the West County Detention Facility, according to Antioch police and the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office.
Guilliee was arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary and a warrant for failure to appear in court in a grand theft case and was being held in lieu of $40,000 bail at County Jail in Martinez.
