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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Three men were arrested after a woman found them inside her mother’s house Monday, police said.
Police received a report of a burglary in progress at a home in the 2900 block of Banbury Road at about 3 p.m., according to Cottonwood Heights Police Sgt. Corbett Ford.
Rebecca Keener said she noticed a vehicle she was unfamiliar with parked in front of her mother’s house when she stopped by to drop off her pregnant daughter-in-law, who also lives there. Two men were about to get in the car with their hands full of stuff from the garage, she said.
"The first thing that went through my mind was: this is not going to happen ... while my grandson is living here."
Keener said her mom's house has been burglarized before and she couldn't believe what was going on right in front of her.
“She tries to confront them and scares them off," Ford said. "They get into the car that is parked in front of the house and leave.”
"When I started honking the horn, the kid's eyes got huge," Keener said. "I was following them pretty much nose to nose, honking my horn the whole time."
Keener's daughter-in-law called 911 as they followed the vehicle and was able to provide a partial license plate and description of the vehicle. That information helped an officer locate the men a short time later near 2300 East and Fort Union Blvd.
“They took three young male adults into custody who were in the vehicle, and it looks like they subsequently recovered, we believe, all of the stolen property that was taken from the burglary,” he said.
When I started honking the horn, the kid's eyes got huge. ... I was following them pretty much nose to nose, honking my horn the whole time.
–Rebecca Keener
Quinn Chase Cleveland, 18; Heber Emmitt Cleveland, 18; and Tyler Ashton Marttila, 18, were all arrested for investigation of burglary. Quinn Cleveland originally told police his name was Cory Cleveland, a relative's name. The relative was not involved.
"Normally we want to discourage people from following people," Ford said. "In this circumstance, I mean, it is cool. Everything turned out (good)."
The men mostly stole items like hand tools and power tools from the garage, according to Ford. He said Keener's mother didn’t appear to be home at the time of the burglary, but had left the side main door open.
“This happened to be a crime of opportunity from what we understand in talking to these young men,” he said. “It’s one of those things where they were driving around and happened to see an open door and it looked like nobody was there. It is something that becomes a little bit problematic.”
Both Ford and Keener say the incident should serve as a reminder for homeowners everywhere.
"Two-thirty in the afternoon and people are robbing houses," Keener said. "I just think it's really important: everybody needs to lock their doors."
