1 year later, man accused of breaking into cars again
A year after he was arrested in a similar incident, an Idaho Falls man was arrested on charges of vehicle burglary and malicious injury to property after police said he was caught breaking into a vehicle at a church on South Boulevard.
Police were called Sunday around 2:45 p.m. to the 800 block of South Boulevard after a witness said Jerry Alan Rowe, 58, looked into several car windows in the parking lot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Rowe then smashed a vehicle window and grabbed a purse from one of the vehicles, officers said.
He was booked into the Bonneville County Jail.
This isn’t the first time Rowe has been in trouble with the law. In June 2012, he was arrested in connection to vehicle burglaries at WinCo in Idaho Falls, where he was also accused of smashing a car window and stealing a purse. In that case, the felony charges of burglary and grand theft were reduced to misdemeanor burglary and petty theft, respectively. For each offense, he was sentenced to 120 days behind bars, but he spent one day in jail, as the other 119 days were suspended, according to court records.
Joelyn Hansen, a spokeswoman for the Idaho Falls Police Department, said Rowe will likely face harsher penalties since he’s a repeat offender.
Hansen went on to add that everyone should be aware that simply locking the car doors is not enough to keep potential burglars away.
“We advise that when people are not occupying their vehicle, take anything valuable — especially purses, things like that — that would be enticing for (burglars) to want to (steal),” Hansen said.
