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Burglary attempt in heavily targeted San Fernando Valley thwarted by neighbor with paintball gun
By Carlos HerreraTony Kurzweil,
4 hours ago
An alert neighbor helped scare off a group of would-be thieves at a home in the Tarzana neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley Tuesday night.
The incident took place around 10:30 p.m. in the 5400 block of Auro Avenue when a silver SUV pulled up in front of a home and three suspects wearing hoodies exited the vehicle.
Julian Harper-Smith, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years, saw the suspects on a sophisticated surveillance system he set up at his home.
Suspects are seen trying to enter a home in Tarzana on July 30, 2025. (RMG)
Police respond to a burglary call in Tarzana on July 30, 2025. (RMG)
“It was just three guys hopping a neighbor’s wall … I grabbed my paintball gun and I brought a flashlight just hoping that would scare them off,” Harper-Smith said.
The suspects were seen running off the property and jumping back into their getaway vehicle a short time later as video showed the flashes of light shining in the neighborhood.
“So I just put my flashlight down and just gave them a couple paintball shots to the back of the car just to tell them to ‘stay away,’” Harper-Smith said.
The burglars were unable to get anything from the home and the homeowners were not physically harmed.
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