Resident called 911 from closet

A burglar picked the wrong north Fayette house to target Tuesday morning.

Someone was still home at the house on New Hope Road when the burglar entered the residence, officials said. The homeowner hid in a closet and called 911, emergency dispatchers said.

The first deputy to arrive on the scene saw the suspect carrying items out of the house, said Fayette County Sheriff Wayne Hannah.

Ronnie Bass, of Ashdale Drive, College Park, was arrested at the scene, deputies said. He was charged with burglary, officials said.

The incident occurred just after 10 a.m., when Bass forced his way into the residence, officials said.

Bass’s vehicle matches the description of a vehicle that has been seen near the scene of other burglaries, including one Monday on Banks Road in which a flat screen TV was taken, Hannah said. Other burglaries have been reported in the Wilkins Road area, he added.

Other items in Bass’s possession may link him to other burglaries committed in Fayette County, officials said.

Bass was released from the state prison system in September for a conviction in Fulton County for theft by taking. He had been incarcerated six previous times in Georgia prisons for various theft and burglary charges, including one burglary in Clayton County in which he was sentenced to 14 years for burglary, and after serving six months in March 1989 he committed another burglary in Fulton County less than two months later for which he was convicted and sentenced to another 12 years.