Police in Fairhope, Alabama have recently arrested a fourth teenager in connection with the theft of at least 11 vehicles over the weekend. This latest arrest took place on Tuesday, August 15th, 2023 and resulted in the recovery of a handgun that was reported stolen from one of the vehicles.
According to the authorities, nearly 20 vehicles were broken into, with items including two handguns taken from them. Out of these 20 vehicles, 11 were stolen and taken for joyrides.
This kind of crime is not new, with thieves always on the lookout for easy targets. In this case, the Fairhope Police have revealed that every car was unlocked, and most of them had keys inside them. The investigation began when they received reports of two cars stolen on Saturday night, August 12th, 2023. Then, on Sunday evening, there were two more thefts. Finally, the police got a breakthrough when they spotted one of the stolen vehicles. When they stopped the car, two teenagers got out and ran.
Lt. Shane Nolte with Fairhope Police said, “Through dash-cam video and video from the neighborhood…you know, a lot of residents had video that they were willing to share with us…we were able to identify one that night who we suspected it was and then the next morning, with the same video, we were able to identify a second one.”
By Monday morning, nearly 20 incidents of car thefts or break-ins had come in from nine different neighbourhoods. Sunglasses, keys, money, and even two handguns were reported stolen.
The two juveniles identified from the video and a third accomplice were arrested on Monday. Police took a fourth into custody on Tuesday. Investigators confirmed that the 17-year-old had a second stolen gun in his possession. It is unclear whether their motive was to go joyriding or to steal items left in cars.
“That part, I’m not sure about but they were obviously doing both. They were joyriding some. They were breaking into cars,” Nolte said. “I say, ‘breaking into.’ All of them were unlocked and obviously, they would find keys in the unlocked vehicles and get rid of the one they were driving and start a new one.”
All four teenagers arrested are from Fairhope, aged between 14 and 17 years, and face serious felony theft charges. They will go through the juvenile court system. Fairhope Police confirmed that none of them have any prior arrest history.
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