Glendale police are following up on the arrests of five teenagers between 14 and 16 who face a slew of felony and misdemeanor charges between them. The group is accused of carrying out dozens of armed burglaries over the last three months. In many cases, the victims were home.
Officer Moroni Mendez said they targeted cars parked in driveways, often using stolen garage door openers to access the homes.
“Approximately 46 cases are known between Glendale and the Phoenix Police Department,” said Mendez. “And we do know that it is possible that they're also tied to other cases from other agencies across the Valley.”
According to Mendez, they’re working with other departments to follow up on those potential connections and the crimes were “definitely organized.”
“In most of these they were actually breaking into these vehicles,” said Mendez. “They would scope them out, look inside and see if they can find a garage door opener. Which I mean, I have one and most people have them on their sun visor.”
He said cars, firearms and other valuable items were stolen to be sold off or used in the future.
Last week, Glendale police arrested five teenagers following an investigation into a series of burglaries in July.
“We know that the Phoenix Police Department had arrested two other teen suspects prior to our arrest,” Mendez said. “And we're going to keep looking into this.”
And given what they know about recent incidents: “It's almost certain that there's probably more incidents that have occurred," according to Mendez.
Mendez urged any victims who haven’t come forward yet to report what happened to them.
