Local News in Brief : Burglar Pleads Guilty

A paroled burglar pleaded guilty Thursday to 16 felony charges stemming from eight residential break-ins, including one at the Hollywood home of former “Candid Camera” host Alan Funt.

David Washington, 31, entered his plea before Municipal Court Judge Alban I. Niles to charges stemming from a series of crimes that began in September, court officials said.

He will be sentenced in Superior Court May 27, officials said.

Washington, who was arrested Oct. 29, was accused of attacking two women in southwest Los Angeles on Sept. 24 and 25, and breaking into two Hermosa Beach homes on Oct. 27. He was also charged in a string of break-ins in the Hollywood Hills.

The night he was arrested, Washington burglarized four homes in the same neighborhood between midnight and 6 a.m., police said. Funt’s home was the last to be hit. Funt had left the house unaware that a prowler had entered.

When Washington was discovered by Funt’s secretary, police said he punched the woman and threatened a gardener with a knife.

Police said Washington chased the secretary down the street, brandishing a knife, before being scared off after seeing a police officer who was investigating the earlier burglaries.

Washington was captured several hours later in the hills nearby.

When he was charged in November, prosecutors said Washington had been released on parole from prison, where he had served time for burglary.