Police arrested a Tracy teenager to conclude a manhunt that began when an Independence Drive home was reportedly broken into and a handgun stolen Tuesday, May 1.

According to the homeowner, his neighbor on the 700 block of Independence Drive saw a teenage boy, later identified by police as the 17-year-old, throwing a brick into the back entrance of the house about 11 a.m. He said his internal motion detectors went off and the home alarm sounded a short time later.

The homeowner told police that a handgun had been stolen from his house.

“Responding units saw the suspect jump the west sound wall on South Tracy Boulevard, adjacent to Menay Drive,” said Sgt. Tony Sheneman of the Tracy Police Department. “Before he could get out, we set up a perimeter.”

During a search of the neighborhood, police found a loaded 9 mm handgun magazine in the roadway at Independence Drive and Tracy Boulevard, which police believe was stolen from the allegedly burglarized home.

Sheneman said he and Sgt. Mark Duxbury arrived at the Monument Drive entrance to the Regency Square subdivision and saw a young man matching the burglar’s description peeking over a backyard wall on Tahoe Circle.

Sheneman said the suspect ducked behind the wall, and area residents said they heard him jumping fences into adjacent backyards.

The teenage suspect was found hiding in the backyard of Tony Doria’s house.

Doria, a 21-year resident of Tahoe Circle, said he saw the police in front of his house with guns drawn, and saw the suspect hiding behind a tree in his backyard.

“I was glad to see the police out there,” he said. “I was glad to see them come that fast.”

The teenager, whose name was not released by investigators because of his age, surrendered to police and was placed under arrest on the 1500 block of Tahoe Circle shortly before noon.

During a search by officer Dan Pasquale and his K-9 partner, Cid, the allegedly stolen 9 mm handgun was found in the backyard of Hector Menez on Tahoe Circle.

Menez said he was home Tuesday morning because his daughter was sick. He recalled hearing dogs barking in the area, but he didn’t know the alleged burglar was in his yard.

“I saw the police cars, and I ran out and asked what’s going on,” Menez said. “He was in my backyard. It’s scary. This is a quiet neighborhood.”

Following the arrest, Menez told police he saw the suspect going door-to-door in the neighborhood Monday evening, asking if anyone needed yard work done. Menez said the teenager told him he needed money to buy a card for his mother, but he had no equipment.

The 17-year-old faces burglary charges, police said.