On Saturday, Dec. 13, at around 5:28 p.m., a Santa Maria Police Department officer spotted a man trying to leave a secured parking lot next to a closed business in the 200 block of West Betteravia Road.
The man, identified as 46-year-old Santa Maria resident Jaime Coria, noticed the officer and ran back into the secured lot, attempting to hide among several parked cars.
Police set up a perimeter in the area. Due to low lighting, officers used a department drone equipped with thermal imaging and called in a Santa Maria Police K-9 team to assist with the search.
Using the drone’s technology, officers quickly located Coria. He was taken into custody without incident and later booked into the Santa Maria Northern Branch Jail on a charge of commercial burglary.
