LANCASTER, Pa. — Police have arrested several suspects in a series of thefts from automobiles that occurred Tuesday in Lancaster.
Three of the suspects arrested in one of the alleged thefts were juveniles, according to Lancaster Police. They were taken into custody when a detective from Reading, Berks County -- who was in the area of New Dauphin and South Reservoir streets investigating a stolen vehicle case from his jurisdiction -- spotted the suspects inside a parked 2019 Honda HRV that he knew to be stolen, police say.
The HRV, which had been reported stolen on April 13, was spotted in Reading by the detective a few days after it had been stolen, according to police.
The Reading detective contacted Lancaster Police, who responded to the area and detained the three suspects. They were transported to the Lancaster Police Station and charged before Lancaster County Juvenile Probation.
One of the suspects, a 17-year-old girl, was released to a parent under electronic monitoring, police say. The other suspects, a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy, were detained at the Youth Intervention Center, according to police.
All three are charged with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and criminal conspiracy.
Also on Tuesday:
At 12:11 p.m., a resident on the 100 block of Euclid Avenue called police after seeing an unknown juvenile enter and steal a neighbor's 2015 Hyundai Sonata, police say. The witness provided a description of the suspect and a direction that he drove off in. Police responding to the call were informed that the suspect abandoned the vehicle and was on foot. Police established a perimeter and soon saw the suspect running and jumping over rear-yard fences.
A neighbor in the area was able to detain the suspect for the officers that were chasing the suspect, police say. The suspect was found to be a 15-year-old male resident of Lancaster.
Witnesses told police the suspect had been seen on a bike in the area prior to the alleged theft. He was also in possession of a bag, witnesses said. Police retraced the suspect's path and found a bag in one of the yards the suspect ran through. The bag contained items determined to have been stolen from parked and unlocked vehicles in the area, police say.
The bicycle that the suspect rode to the area was determined to have been stolen from am unlocked shed in the area, according to police.
The suspect was charged before Lancaster County Juvenile Probation with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and two counts of theft from a motor vehicle, according to police.
He was detained at the Youth Intervention Center.
Other thefts that police investigated Tuesday included:
On the 900 block of Union Street, sometime between last Friday and Tuesday, a resident reported that someone stole a firearm from their unlocked vehicle.
On the 1100 block of Union Street at about 3:30 a.m., a home's surveillance system recorded images of three unknown male suspects entering a parked and unlocked vehicle.
Those incidents are under investigation, police say.
Police said in all of these incidents, the vehicles that were stolen were left unlocked and had a spare or valet key left inside.The vehicles that had items stolen were left unlocked with valuable items inside.
The Lancaster Bureau of Police would encourage residents to lock their cars, do not leave a spare key in vehicle and remove all valuable items inside vehicles.
