Lawrence Police arrest Topeka man in auto theft cases
9:56 a.m. Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A call of an auto burglary in progress led Lawrence police on Monday to arrest a Topeka man suspected of committing at least two western Lawrence auto thefts and eight auto burglaries in recent days.
Western Lawrence has seen a rash of car burglaries this month, including 13 that happened April 2 and 3 in the same area.
“They are still investigating this and investigating if there are any other people involved, if it’s just this person, how many burglaries there are and what burglaries are tied to this,” Lawrence Police Spokeswoman Kim Murphree said.
The suspect, identified as a 29-year-old Topeka resident, was being held Monday evening in the Douglas County Jail on eight counts of auto burglary, eight counts of theft, two counts of auto theft, five counts of criminal damage, and fleeing to elude police.
Those cases include an April 3 auto theft in the 5200 block of Harvard Road, in which a family’s Saab was stolen out of the home’s open garage.
Police recovered the Saab on Monday near Crestline Drive and Peterson Road based on information they developed from the arrest earlier in the day.
On Monday, officers began looking for a stolen Toyota Tundra truck about 5:40 a.m. after a caller reported hearing an auto alarm in the 3000 block of Carrington Lane.
An officer spotted the truck near Sixth Street and Kasold Drive and tried to make a traffic stop. The driver fled north on Kasold and eventually abandoned the truck in the 600 block of North Durham Court.
An off-duty officer who happened to be in the area saw someone squatting next to a vehicle in a nearby driveway and helped police arrest the man after a foot chase.
The man had not been formally charged as of Monday.
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