Juvenile charged in rash of Riverside car burglaries

RIVERSIDE - Riverside police on Friday charged with four counts of felony burglary to motor vehicle a 16-year-old male juvenile who reportedly attempted to break into more than 50 cars.

North Riverside Police arrested the juvenile at about 1:03 a.m. after being notified by Riverside police that they were looking for the offender who resided in North Riverside, according to Riverside Police Department news release.

Riverside Police on April 30 responded to four car burglary complaints. Three of the burglaries took place on the 400 block of Uvedale Road, and the fourth one took place on the 300 block of Selborne Road, the release said.

In each instance, the cars were unlocked and no force was used. Each burglary happened after 11 p.m. Items taken included cash, coins, iPads, jewelry and other items that could be easily sold or pawned, according to the release.

Riverside police walked the area of the car burglaries and were able to find doorbell and driveway videos of the suspect. Police viewed the videos and recognized the offender from previous police- involved incidents.

Police notified North Riverside Police that they were looking for this individual, whose last known address was in North Riverside.

The juvenile later told police that he had tried more than 50 door handles over a 48-hour period looking to steal property. If the car was locked, he did not break into it, according to the release.

He then went to Jewel-Osco in North Riverside and used some of the cash and coins to purchase products.

The juvenile was processed and petitioned to juvenile court, and then released to his mother.

“From the video recovered of the crimes, it took only 6 seconds for this offender to burglarize the cars,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in the release. “ If the car was locked, he left the driveway and went on to somebody else’s home. I urge our residents to lock their car doors, close their windows, and keep their outside lights on at nighttime.”