Suspect in burglary dies after crashing

FRESNO -- An 18-year-old man who burglarized and stole a car from a northwest Fresno home died Wednesday morning when the vehicle struck a pole, police said Friday.

The burglar's body was found in the car at the bottom of a bluff behind a home on West Alluvial Avenue, police said. Michael Solis of Fresno died in the crash, the Fresno County Coroner's Office said.

Shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday, police received a call from a woman who said a man entered her home in the 2500 block of West Bluff Avenue while she was watching television, Lt. Tony Bennink said.

While the woman was calling 911 from her neighbor's house, Solis ransacked her home, taking an iPad, a cell phone and a set of keys to a Nissan, the woman said.

About 11:45 a.m., police received a call from residents in the 2100 block of West Alluvial Avenue who said they saw a car at the bottom of a bluff behind their home, Bennink said.

Solis' body was found in the convertible.

Police believe Solis drove the stolen car north on Van Ness Boulevard and then east on an access road toward the bluff, where it hit a pole and flipped over.

-- The Fresno Bee