Petaluma police: Man took pair of woman’s underwear

A Petaluma man was in jail Tuesday after police said he broke into a woman’s home and left with a pair of her underwear after a confrontation Monday evening.

Eduardo Arevalos, 28, was arrested on suspicion of residential burglary and interfering with a peace officer when officers intercepted him after a foot chase near the victim’s home.

Police first responded to a call from the victim at 6:35 p.m., in which she reported a man she did not know had entered her home through an unlocked sliding glass door. She had first been alerted to his presence by a knock on her bedroom door, police said, and she had opened it to find a man police would later identify as Arevalos.

The man did not leave when she demanded that he do so, and the victim armed herself with a pair of scissors, police said. She again told the man to leave and that she was going to be calling the police.

The man fled at that point and the victim called 911. She told police she had last seen the man climb over her back fence and then run south on the railroad tracks.

Petaluma police officers began to search the nearby area, and located Arevalos. When they attempted to stop him, he fled, police said.

Arevalos ran into the Town and Country Shopping Center with the officers in pursuit, police said. When he reached the north side of the shopping center, officers caught up to Arevalos and arrested him, police said.

Officers found a stolen pair of what they later identified as the reporting victim's underwear in Arevalos' backpack. They also found a second pair of women's underwear that did not belong to the victim, police said.

Arevalos’ bail is set at $225,000.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Petaluma Police Department at 707-778-4372.

You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.