Transient arrested in Piner High School burglaries

An investigation into three burglaries in two days at Piner High School led to the arrest of a man found with a school camera in his backpack, Santa Rosa police said Tuesday.

Burglar alarms rang Saturday night and Sunday morning at the west Santa Rosa high school, Sgt. Lisa Banayat said. Police officers responding to the 8:10 p.m. alarm Saturday found signs of a burglary. At about 9 a.m. they were back at the school and found a science lab and the performing arts building had been broken into with a few things missing, Banayat said.

Surveillance video from Sunday captured images of a man breaking into two areas. Sgt. Rob Reynolds watched the tape and began searching the Fulton Road area near the school.

At about noon, behind the shopping center at Piner and Fulton roads, Reynolds spotted a man who looked like the burglar, Banayat said.

The man, described by police as a transient, was on probation and subject to police searches. Officers checked his backpack, found the camera and arrested Christopher Scott Baxter, 37, on suspicion of three counts of burglary and violating his probation.

He was booked into the Sonoma County Jail where he remained Tuesday morning in lieu of $10,000 bail.