Neighbors’ tips lead to arrests of 3 in Oregon
11/7/2012Mindful neighbors helped lead Oregon police to arrest three suspects in a Tuesday afternoon burglary.
Oregon police Sgt. Kelly Thibert said three juveniles, all from Toledo, were arrested and charged with burglary for breaking into a home in the 100 block of North Yarrow Road and stealing a television and a laptop.
Neighbors across the street from the burglarized home reported, at about 10:30 a.m., seeing a white pickup in a driveway and knew no one was supposed to be home. The neighbors told police they saw two suspects peering into windows and knocking on doors, the sergeant said, then saw the suspects in the home, and watched them leave with property from the residence.
Once the neighbors called police and Detective Janet Zale was at the scene, she contacted Sergeant Thibert with a description of the truck driven by the suspects. The sergeant spotted the truck while driving in the 1200 block of Starr Avenue.
For about an hour she sat and watched the truck, before two boys came out of a residence and approached the truck, loading a carbon-dioxide gun into the truck. “Once I saw they had contact with the vehicle, I identified myself and took two males into custody,” the sergeant said.
Inside the residence, the apartment of a third suspect’s girlfriend, the sergeant found keys to the truck and the stolen television. The laptop has not been recovered. The investigation is ongoing, but police do not believe the suspects are linked to other crimes in Oregon. The sergeant added, “This was not their first dance.”
Two of the suspects are 17, another is 15. Two of them were truant from Waite High School, Sergeant Thibert said.
“I think the best thing that happened was that the neighbors were aware and weren’t afraid to call 911,” the sergeant said. “So many people don’t do that.”