Two juveniles were arrested after committing multiple crimes during the span of a month.
Police Captain Jim Feldman tells KSAL News on Friday, March 28th two juvenile males were caught trying to steal a lunchable from Dollar General on 840 E. Crawford. The employees advised the teens to leave the store. Allegedly when the juveniles left, an 18-year old male arrived to the store on a bike and left a backpack he had on the bike before he entered. Afterwards, the boys took the backpack that was on the bike and ran away. The bag contained a baseball glove, laptop, a medical device and clothing which was valued at over $2,000.
Authorities arrived on the scene and discovered the suspects in the area on 300 Center St. Officers captured and arrested the boys without incident. Both juveniles were charged with felony theft. The backpack was located behind a business in the 800 block of E. Crawford and all items were recovered, except the medical device. The suspects were released that same day.
Furthermore, on Monday, March 31st at around 5:00 am officers arrived at VIP Smoke Shop on 2018 S. 9th due to a burglary alarm that sounded off. Reportedly, a front glass door had been broken into with a rock and it was determined that two male suspects committed the crime.
Police stated that merchandise worth $2,500 had been stolen from the store. Those items included miscellaneous tobacco products and vape pens. Damage to the door was valued at $2,000.
Shortly after at about 8:40 am, a School Resource Officer from a Salina school was contacted by a school staff member who reported a male student was caught smoking in the restroom. The officer spoke with the student and stated that two juvenile males had supplied him with the vape pen he was smoking with.
During the investigation, police learned the juveniles who supplied the vape pen to the boy were the same suspects who broke into VIP Smoke Shop earlier that morning.
Authorities located and arrested the teen suspects at the school. One suspect is aged 15 and the other is 16. Both teens were booked into the Juvenile Detention Center in Junction City, KS and were charged with:
- 2 Counts of Burglary
- 1 Count of Felony Damage to Property
- 1 Count of Misdemeanor Damage to Property
- 2 Counts of Felony Theft
Police also stated the juveniles had burglarized Pack Rat Smokes on 659 S. Broadway on Monday, March 10th. These were the same suspects that committed the crime that occurred on Friday, March 28th.
