Bartlesville Police Make Three Arrests In Car Theft Spree

Bartlesville Police Department arrested three men they believe are behind a string of car burglaries. The suspects are accused of stealing property from 15 different cars in three days.

07/12/2018 Related Story: Vehicle Burglaries Prompts Bartlesville Police Theft Alert

They made contact with the occupants of the vehicle. There were three people in the vehicle. Two of them were the two that I had already identified. One was the third that I was trying to identify," said Investigator Daniel Mains.

According to Captain Jay Hasting, the suspects stole a gun, purses, billfolds, and medication.

“When they find a gun, they are going to search that much harder. They are going to continue on the next night. They are going to go to other neighborhoods because it’s like hitting the jackpot,” said Hastings

Detectives believe These men also used credit cards they found to go on a shopping spree. Investigator Mains says they made 22 transactions attempts in one day alone.

“With 22 separate transactions...that's 22 separate crimes on top of the vehicle burglary so I mean you can...even from a misdemeanor crime you can add up months and months and months to the point you are sitting in the county jail for years," said Mains

Captain Hastings says these crimes can be avoided altogether if people would just lock their car doors and remove any valuables.