Safe Heist Was Anything But, Santa Ana Police Say

A security guard who happened along Cypress Street in Santa Ana shortly after 3 a.m. Friday heard a man in the gutter crying out for help. The man, 24-year-old Daniel Joseph Lawyer, had a broken leg and a broken arm. He said he had been hit by a car that sped away.

But police investigators found no other signs of a hit-and-run accident. What they did find was an open door at Pool Supply of Orange County Inc., about a block away in the 2600 block of South Main Street. Someone had pried the company’s 1,500-pound steel safe from its bolted position on the second floor. It was found on the first floor, at the bottom of the stairs.

Santa Ana Police Lt. Jack Nelson said a burglar apparently lost control of the safe as he was trying to bring it down the stairwell from the second floor to the first floor with a handcart. The safe apparently went crashing to the first floor, on top of the burglar. The stairwell was heavily damaged, Nelson said.

A bar that police believe was used to pry the bolts loose was found near where the safe was kept.

Fired a Month Ago

Lawyer, police said, was an employee of the company until he was fired about a month ago. He was booked Friday on suspicion of burglary and possession of stolen property.

The Santa Ana man was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana for treatment Friday morning. On Saturday he was awaiting transfer to the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange.

Police believe that Lawyer crawled out of the building after breaking his leg and arm trying to move the safe but was too seriously injured to go farther than Cypress Street, about 50 yards away.

“He’s not going anywhere; that leg is really shattered,” Nelson said.

Lawyer reportedly was a truck driver for the company. Nelson said company officials did not tell police why Lawyer was fired.

Nelson said Lawyer has refused to discuss the incident with police.

“Since he’s not talking, we can only speculate. But it looks like the thing just got away from him on the stairs,” Nelson said. “Then after his leg was broken he wasn’t in any shape to finish the job.”

Nelson said he did not know what was inside the safe.

The pool supply company was closed on Saturday, and the owners could not be reached.