Trebek puts himself in jeopardy, chases down burglar

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- I'll take bizarre burglaries for $400, Alex. "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek is dealing with a torn Achilles tendon after chasing a burglar in his hotel. The burglar turned out to be no match for the 72-year-old game show host.

This is how Trebek explained -- in typical Jeopardy fashion -- why he was hobbling on crutches.

"I'm going to start today with an answer to a question that I suspect is on many of your minds right now. The answer is at 2:30 yesterday morning, chasing a burglar down the hall at my San Francisco hotel," Trebek told the audience at the National Geographic World Championship event he was hosting at Google headquarters in Mountain View.

Trebek and his wife stayed at the downtown Marriott in San Francisco, and that's where the burglar struck at about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday as the couple slept. Trebek says he was awakened by an intruder in the room. Police say she was Lucinda Moyers, a 56-year-old burglar with a long rap sheet.

Trebek chased the burglar down the hallway until his heel gave way.

"The snap and the sound," said Trebek describing how he tore his Achilles tendon as he fell and injured his other leg. "I played sports all my life."

But that didn't stop Trebek.

"I called security immediately and gave them a good description of the woman and they got her," said Trebek.

"The suspect was later apprehended by security inside the hotel and they recovered some of the stolen items, minus the cash, near an ice machine," said Lt. Troy Dangerfield with San Francisco Police Department Public Affairs.

Trebek got his wallet and cell phone back. Still missing besides the cash is a piece of jewelry which has great sentimental value.

"We got most of our stuff back, except for the one piece of jewelry that I ever wear. It's a bracelet my mother gave me many years ago, so that's gone and the cash," said Trebek.

Moyers answered questions from jail Wednesday night about what happened. She denies she was there. Moyers was arrested as she left the hotel. She agreed to talk with ABC7 News off camera from jail.

When asked why she was arrested, Moyers replied, "Because of my record, or maybe because it was Alex Trebek. I haven't done nothing. I haven't gone in his room or nothing. Just like I said that night, 'I wasn't in your room' and I stick by that. I wasn't in his room."

This underscores why hotel guests need to be sure to double-lock their doors at night.

"Very unusual. It's very unusual for someone to break into someone's hotel room today, especially with a deadbolt and a double-lock, it's not that easily done," said former FBI agent Rick Smith.

Police won't say how the burglar got into Trebek's hotel room, but they do say she was not armed and that his life was never in Jeopardy.

Trebek is expected to have surgery on Friday for his torn Achilles heel.

ABC7's Leslie Brinkley contributed to this report

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crime, google, celebrity, television, san francisco news, vic lee

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