Venice guests use wrestling hold to detain burglar

A suspected burglar at a Venice home was arrested early Monday after he was confronted by guests who disarmed him and took his identification before officers caught him hiding under a pile of clothes at a nearby house.

The Maine resident scaled a wall, climbed onto a roof and pulled off some "acrobatic moves" to enter a home in the 800 block of Vernon Avenue about 2:30 a.m. Monday, said Officer Jeff Bert of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The suspect took a laptop but was unable to make a quick getaway because of double locks on the doors, Bert said.

At least two guests who were in the courtyard noticed the stranger and detained him by placing him in a full nelson wrestling hold.

"These people were not going to be victimized," Bert said.

The man tried to slash the guests with a knife but was eventually disarmed.