DANA POINT – Three suspected burglars picked the wrong house Thursday when they broke into a residence in a neighborhood under surveillance by undercover Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies, authorities said.

The deputies were in an unmarked car parked in the 25000 block of Salt Water Drive conducting a stakeout based on a statistical prediction from the Sheriff Department’s Crime Analysis Unit that the neighborhood was ripe for burglaries.

“In a perfect world this is the way it is supposed to work,” Sheriff’s Department Lt. Lane Lagaret said, adding the analysis unit examines crime patterns to determine where burglaries are likely to occur. “It’s all about timing and luck.”

The deputies were waiting when around 11 a.m. a 2001 gold Honda Accord pulled up and parked in front of their vehicle.

They watched as a woman got out of the car, walked up to the front door of a residence and then disappeared out of sight, said Lagaret.

Minutes later two men, each wearing gloves, left the vehicle and approached the house.

After about 20 minutes the men returned to the Honda carrying bags filled with items, Lagaret said.

The deputies requested another officer in a marked patrol car who attempted to pull over the Honda as it left the neighborhood, but the driver refused to stop.

A two-to-three-minute pursuit along city streets began and, at times, reached speeds of 100 mph. The Accord crashed near San Juan and Valle Roads, and all three suspects fled on foot.

Officers in an Anaheim police helicopter directed deputies to one of the men.

The other man and a woman, were found hiding in bushes along San Juan Creek, near Avenida Padre, around noon. All three were placed under arrest.

Their names were not immediately released.

Lagaret marveled at the Crime Analysis Unit’s pinpoint precision in directing the deputies in advance to the exact location of the crime. “It was good investigative work.”

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