‘Jeopardy!’ host injured chasing burglar

Lucinda Moyers, 56, of San Francisco, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of felony burglary and receiving stolen property, said San Francisco police Lt. Troy Dangerfield.

The 71-year-old Trebek said he snapped his Achilles tendon while running after a woman who he says stole cash, a bracelet and other items from his room around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Trebek, who has hosted the syndicated quiz show "Jeopardy!" since 1984, is scheduled to have surgery Friday and is expected to be in a cast for six weeks.

Trebek was on crutches Wednesday when he hosted the National Geographic World Championship at Google headquarters. He jokingly explained to the audience how he was injured in the show’s signature answer-before-question format.

"The answer is, at 2:30 yesterday morning, chasing a burglar down the hall at my San Francisco hotel until my Achilles tendon ruptured and I fell in an ignominious heap to the carpeting," he said.

Trebek was staying at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in downtown San Francisco when he realized someone was inside his room looking through his belongings, he told KNTV-TV.

"I woke up and saw a figure in our hotel bedroom and I thought I was dreaming," he said. "A moment later, I got up and saw that the door was being held open by a wad of tissue. I opened the door and saw a woman walking away, and I realized immediately that someone had been in the room."

Trebek said he ran down the hall and confronted her.

"She came out of the little room where the ice machine is and I said, ‘What were you doing in our room?’" Trebek said. "She said, ‘I wasn’t in your room!’ I said, ‘What are you doing up here?’ She said, ‘I was visiting friends.’ I said, ‘No, you weren’t. Let’s see what security has to say about that."

"As I reached for the phone to call security, she bolted. She ran down the hall. I chased her. And I didn’t get more than 25 feet before my right Achilles tendon ruptured and I crashed to the ground."

He hobbled back to his phone and called security. The suspect was apprehended inside the hotel and most of the stolen items were recovered near the ice machine, but no cash was found, Dangerfield said.

"We got most of our stuff back, except the one piece of jewelry that I ever wear. It’s a bracelet that my mother gave me many years ago, so that’s gone. And cash," Trebek told KGO-TV. "I figured she stashed it somewhere in the hotel, and we’ll come back to retrieve it someday."