An Auburn-area transient is behind bars after beating an Auburn man and then burglarizing his home.

A Placer County Sheriff’s deputy and his K-9, Okar, chased down Jason David Wright, also known as Jason Gomez, after he tried to run away when law enforcement approached him at about 9 p.m. Monday at the Olive Apartment on Luther Road in Auburn, according to Placer Sheriff’s spokeswoman Dena Erwin.

Wright, 30, allegedly assaulted a 59-year-old Auburn man at about 1 a.m. Saturday as he was walking on Park Drive near his home.

The victim reportedly told deputies that the last thing he remembered was Wright asking him for a cigarette.

When the assaulted man regained consciousness, he was able to walk home but was later treated for pain to his face and hip at a local hospital, Erwin said.

The victim told deputies that his keys were missing from his pocket and a gold chain was missing from around his neck. When he arrived home, his front door was unlocked and many items had been taken, including a laptop computer, an electric guitar and other items totaling an estimated $4,750.

Wright was charged with robbery, burglary and battery with great bodily injury He is being held at the Placer County jail on $220,000 bail and a parole hold.

~ Staff report