The Hermiston Police Department arrested a 16-year-old on burglary and theft charges connected to several reported crimes over the previous week.
Sunday evening, officers responded to a disturbance where a youth was involved in a disagreement with the teen’s grandfather. Once at the scene, officers realized the youth matched the description of the suspect in the theft cases.
The teenager was charged with a residential burglary, two counts of theft and eight counts of unlawful entry to a motor vehicle.
Lt. Randy Studebaker of the HPD said the crimes were typical of what they often see and added that many of them can be prevented.
“Nearly every time we take a report of theft from a vehicle, the vehicle was either left unlocked or had valuables in plain sight,” said Studebaker. “Most of these thieves are just taking advantage of an easy target, so please lock your cars, take your keys, and remove or hide your valuables.”
