Davis police are crediting an alert citizen for helping officers nab two suspected car burglars Sunday.
Lt. Ton Phan said a resident of the 2300 block of Roualt Street in the Wildhorse neighborhood called police at about 8 a.m. Sunday and reported seeing two males break into a vehicle nearby.
“Officers responded to the area and contacted two males matching the description provided by the reporting party,” Phan said in a news release. “The suspects were found to have property in their possession which was reported stolen from 12 vehicles in the Wildhorse area.”
Benjamin Brewer, 19; and Connor Kelly, 18; both of Davis, were arrested on suspicion of burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime, petty theft, attempted petty theft and receiving known stolen property, Phan said. Anyone in the Wildhorse neighborhood whose car was burglarized Sunday is urged to call police at 530-747-5400 and refer to case 15-4921.
Meanwhile, police offer the following tips for curbing vehicle burglaries:
* Don’t leave valuables in your car, particularly in plain sight. The safest place to keep your valuables while you are out and about is in the trunk of your vehicle;
* If you must leave valuable items in your car while out and about, place items out of sight before reaching your destination;
* Lock all doors and roll up windows even if you plan to be gone for only a brief time;
* Set any alarm or anti-theft device, if you have one;
* Mark your valuables! This is a last line of defense (not really to prevent theft as much as to aid in recovery). Police suggest inscribing or engraving a “personal identifier” on all valuables by using your driver’s license number, prefaced by your DL state, such as CA-U0077139;
* Report suspicious activity such as people walking up and down aisles of parking lots looking into cars or vehicles cruising parking lots and residential neighborhoods at very slow speeds for extended periods while observing parked cars;
* Never leave your vehicle running and unattended — even for just a minute; and
* Do not leave a GPS system or satellite radio in plain view, not even the dock.
