An alert citizen and quick-responding deputies teamed up to make a felony arrest after deputies tracked the suspect through the paseos in Valencia on Monday morning.

Sherman Cox, 24, of Newhall, is being held on suspected burglary and drug charges.

“(Cox) broke a window to a vehicle that was parked over in Granary Square and he stole a purse and took off running,” said Sgt Rich Nagler of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

Sheriff’s Station deputies received a call from a woman who witnessed a vehicle being broken into behind the Granary Square shopping center.

“She ran into a business and said, ‘Who owns a red car — because it was just broken into,’” said Sgt. Darren Harris of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

The victim happened to be in the business that the witness ran into, he said.

“They immediately called us, and we responded,” Harris said.

Deputies were already in the area, received the call and began broadcasting information to other deputies in the area.

A suspect was seen running from the area with property, Harris said.

Harris coordinated a containment area with responding deputies and deputies already on the scene, Nagler said.

“We continually received information that he was going eastbound on the paseos,” Nagler said. “Other units went ahead of that, including Sgt. Harris, and (the suspect) was detained.”

The suspect was detained and arrested near Alicante Drive and the South Fork Trail, officials said.

The suspect ran into the containment area that was established, and eventually he doubled back into (the containment) and was apprehended without incident, Harris said.

Drug paraphernalia was found on the suspect, so he was taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation, before he’s booked on a felony burglary and a narcotics possession charge, officials said.

“We’ve had some other reported vehicle burglaries in that same general area,” Harris said. Deputies were already taking some reports of vehicles broken into – during the early morning hours or late last night, in that area. We don’t know if they’re related, yet.”

The investigation is still in its preliminary phases, Harris added, but he noted that this crime is part of why deputies are always reminding residents to put their valuables away.

“We always want to reiterate that people should not leave valuables out in their car in plain view and this is a perfect example why,” Harris said. “We had a purse and financial documents on the front seat of the car and the window was smashed.”

Staying informed about what’s going on in the community can help prevent crime, Harris said, encouraging anyone who sees a crime to report it.

“The eyes and the ears of our involved residents assisted us in apprehending this suspect,” Harris said.