Just-Freed Man Rearrested in Sheriff’s Parking Lot, Suspected of Trying to Break Into Vehicles

A sheriff’s deputy found the suspect opening the passenger door of an occupied vehicle, according to the report.

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department deputies near the scene of a crime in San Bernardino, Calif. on Dec. 2, 2015. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

A homeless man released from a Southern California jail was rearrested in the facility’s parking lot and accused of attempting to break into sheriff’s department employees’ vehicles, officials said on May 9.

San Bernardino police arrested Manuel Nunez-Palomino, a 36-year-old homeless man, at about 10:45 a.m. on May 8 for an outstanding misdemeanor traffic warrant, and he was booked into the county’s central detention center, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office.

Nunez-Palomino was released at 12:18 p.m. the next day and was seen on security surveillance as he walked through the employee parking lot.

He was then allegedly seen pulling on car door handles in an apparent attempt to enter them. The vehicles belonged to sheriff’s department employees, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputy Rashawn Cupid responded by entering the parking lot, where he witnessed Nunez-Palomino open an unlocked passenger door while a driver was inside, according to the sheriff’s department.

“The driver of the vehicle did not know Nunez-Palomino and feared he was going to be robbed,” the department said in a statement on Friday.

The driver allegedly yelled at Nunez-Palomino and ordered him to leave his vehicle, according to the department.

Cupid approached the vehicle and also ordered the defendant to stop, the sheriff’s department said.

Nunez-Palomino allegedly fled on foot. After a brief foot pursuit, he was arrested. He was booked on suspicion of attempted vehicle burglary, according to the sheriff’s department.

Nunez-Palomino was no longer in custody on Monday, according to the county inmate information system.

San Bernardino, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, has seen an increase in its homeless population, according to the county’s latest data.

Commuters drive on Interstate 10 West in San Bernardino, Calif., on July 17, 2012. San Bernardino, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, has seen an increase in its homeless population. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

In 2022, the county had about 3,333 homeless people, an increase of about 7 percent from 2020. No homeless count was conducted in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

About 72 percent of homeless people were unsheltered, according to the county.

Of those who were homeless in San Bernardino County in 2022, 78 percent were male, 44 percent were chronically homeless, 33 percent had a substance abuse problem or mental health disorder, and 213 were seniors, the county reported.