Over dozen car burglaries in single weekend

Residents of two Pocatello neighborhoods are being told to lock their cars after thieves entered 15 to 18 cars this weekend and removed their contents.

Pocatello police say eight to ten cars, all unlocked, were burglarized on Rosewood Avenue on Saturday. Police received more calls of break-ins involving unlocked cars on Santa Anita Avenue on Sunday.

Sunday morning, police said they arrested three juveniles blocks down from where some of the break-ins occurred on Santa Anita.

But even with the suspects in custody, police are cautioning drivers.

“Don’t leave anything of value in a vehicle and keep your vehicles and your property locked up,” said Diane Brush, spokeswoman for the Pocatello Police Department.

Neighbors on Santa Anita said the thieves were stealing small items of little value – sometimes scattering them on lawns.

“Cigarette lighters and cigarettes and flashlights,” said Phil Lucky, who said one of the flashlights was left on his front lawn.

Police said the thieves often left behind more likely targets.

“There were firearms in unlocked vehicles, which they left,” said Brush.

Police haven’t yet said if the three juveniles arrested on Santa Anita are also being accused of the burglaries on Rosewood.

Because the suspects are juveniles, their names are not being released.