Tip Leads To Arrest In Burglary Of 98-Year-Old Tulsa Woman's Home

Tulsa police detectives are thanking a tipster who helped find and arrest a teenager they say broke into a 98-year-old Tulsa woman's home and stole her car.

Police say once they got the tip they staked out the car and quickly arrested the 17-year-old who reportedly confessed to the burglary.

Less than a month after the burglary, detectives caught a break.

TPD Cpl. Larry Mark says someone called the Crime Stoppers tip line and helped them solve the case.

"The tip is what exactly led us to him,” Mark said. “If we hadn't got that you know ultimately we probably would've eventually come across the car, but that tip gave us the information that we needed to track down and find the car, setup on it, catch him driving it and ultimately lead to the arrest for that burglary.”

Police say 17-year-old Daniel Carter admitted to crawling through the woman's bathroom window while she was sleeping.

They say he took some some jewelry and other items, found her keys and drove off with her car.

After police arrested him, detectives reunited the woman with her car.

"It's good feeling to solve any case, but this particular case, with somebody that age and the face that she had when she saw her car pull up in the driveway, it was a good feeling," Mark said.

Carter told detectives he was by himself when he broke in and that he doesn’t know why he picked an elderly woman’s home, Mark said.

Police say Carter told them if he’d have known someone was home, he wouldn't have broken in.

“She was still a little bit upset that the whole thing happened, but at least she got her car back," Mark said.

Mark and his detectives are grateful for tips like these that help them close a case.

“Any help we can get to solve those is greatly appreciated," he said.

The burglary division says it handles around 12,000 theft cases a year, so if you have any information that could help, call CrimeStoppers at 918-596-COPS. You can remain anonymous and your tip could lead to a reward.