A Glorieta homeowner who confronted burglars taking four motorcycles from his garage on Thursday is asking neighbors to keep an eye out for his dirt bikes.

Skip Hovlik and his wife, Stephanie, have been living near El Gancho for 2 1/2 years and renting out his old place on Cur Trail near the Glorieta Conference Center.

About 1 p.m. Thursday, he said, he dropped by the Glorieta house, which is between renters, to find a metallic medium blue, late-90s Chevrolet pickup in the driveway.

When he saw his four dirt bikes in the pickup's bed, heard someone inside the garage and realized he was being robbed, he said, he pulled his truck in front of the burglars' vehicle to block it, called 911 and then got out.

As he approached the garage, two or three men — Hovlik said it happened so quickly he can't be sure — ran out of the garage, jumped into their truck through passenger door and began yelling, "Go, go, go."

"I ran to the driver's side and grabbed the door as the driver slammed the truck in reverse," he said. "When the truck sped forward I lost my grip on the door and was able to grab hold of the rack on the back of the truck. I ran alongside of the truck and was dragged a bit before I let go."

Hovlik said he ran back to his truck, intending to pursue the fleeing burglars, but when he called 911 again, the operator cautioned him not to give chase, but to wait until a deputy arrived. "I had lost sight of them anyway," he said.

It took an hour for Deputy Nathan Segura to arrive from Edgewood, Hovlik said. He said when the operator asked him if there was an emergency medical situation, he said no — probably causing his case to be put on a secondary priority.

Undersheriff Robert Garcia said his records indicate Hovlik called at 12:42 p.m. and the officer arrived from Edgewood at 1:41 p.m. "I'm checking on that and I'm trying to figure this whole thing out," he said. "But the way things are looking right now, it's unacceptable."

Hovlik said the burglars appeared to be locals in their 30s, although he said he does not recall them from the 25 years he has lived in the Glorieta area. He said their pickup had no license plate — meaning they probably planned the burglary, knew he kept dirt bikes in his garage and that no one was at home at the time.

The burglars took two Hondas, one Suzuki and one Yamaha, motorcycle helmets, a drill press, a hand sander and other miscellaneous tools, said Hovlik, an electrician. He said a band saw was left on the stairway — probably dropped there when the thieves fled. The side garage door had been pried open to gain entry, he said.

Looking back on the incident, he said, he realizes he is lucky he was not injured, but that he reacted instinctively. He said his homeowners insurance does not cover motorized vehicles and publicity might help him recover his motorcycles as well as expose the thieves before they strike again. If anyone knows who might have burglarized his house, Hovlik can be reached at 470-3913.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.