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Tips from the public lead to arrests.
At 7:30 PM on 12/1/2011, the two suspects were located in Tempe and arrested by Scottsdale Police detectives.
Our appeal to the public to help us identify these suspects were seen by a Scottsdale resident who recognized the male and female in the pictures. The resident called SPD detectives and told us that she saw the suspects at the Lost Dog Trailhead on the date of the theft. She thought their behavior was suspicious and wrote down the plate on the Ford Explorer that they were driving. She provided the licence plate information to the detective.
Our detective ran the plate through a national ALPR (Automated License Plate Recognition) database, and found the vehicle license plate had been recorded recently by the system at a Tempe apartment complex. Thursday evening, SPD detectives found the vehicle at that same Tempe apartment complex. They observed the two suspects get in the car and drive out of the complex. The car was stopped at a nearby retail parking lot and the suspects were arrested.
Detectives searched the vehicle and recovered items believed to be stolen property, including 5 purses, credit cards and an iPad. We are attempting to match the stolen property to other known vehicle burglaries, as well as look at other crimes that these suspects may be responsible for.
Both suspects were arrested for various felony charges and held in-custody.
This case is a stark reminder that you should never leave anything of value visible in your car when you park and leave it. These suspects looked through many vehicles in the trailhead parking lot before finding the victim's purse visible from outside the car. They smashed the car window and made off with the victim's purse, cash and credit cards in a matter of seconds. Please don't become a victim, hide your valuables or remove them from your car before leaving it.
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On 11/19/11 while the victim was hiking at the Lost Dog Trailhead between 2:00 and 4:45 pm someone broke into her gray Mazda, by smashing a rear window, which was parked at the base of the trailhead. The suspect removed the victim’s purse along with other personal items. Later in the evening the victim’s credit cards were used at a Target store, a Lowe’s store and a Shell gas station, all in Tempe.
Surveillance photos show a white female, 20-30 yrs old, 5’03”-5’08”, 190-230 lbs, brown hair and a tattoo on her right inner forearm. She is seen with a white male, 23-33 yrs old, 5’07”-5’11”, 220-285 lbs. It is believed that this is the same female seen in surveillance photos from a previous vehicle burglary http://1.usa.gov/uZZm64
Anyone with information is asked to call SPD at 480-312-5000 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.
Officer David Pubins |
