Police: South Jordan burglars may be tied to similar crimes


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SOUTH JORDAN — A group of at least four men broke into Travis Bonino's car and garage over the holiday weekend.

But the most disturbing thing about it to Bonino was how nonchalant the burglars were about it.

"I think the biggest thing is just they didn't care. They weren't nervous. … Obviously they weren't worried if someone walked out," he said.

On Sunday, police from South Jordan and Saratoga Springs were investigating whether the early morning July 4 burglary could be connected to a recent string of brazen burglaries in Bluffdale.

About 4:45 a.m. Saturday, a man drove a vehicle slowly down Bonino's South Jordan neighborhood while others walked alongside, apparently looking for any unlocked car door. They came across Bonino's vehicle parked in his driveway.

Surveillance video cameras set up at Bonino's house recorded four men casually walking up his driveway.

"I think that's the craziest part of the whole video is they weren't in a hurry, they weren't running. They were just casually walking down the street, casually getting in my truck. They were laughing. They were not scared at all," he said.

The burglars took their crime spree a step further and used the garage door opener in Bonino's vehicle to open his garage. They then went inside and even walked into his backyard. He and his family, and even his dog, were asleep inside the house at the time.

At one point, one of the intruders appeared to notice the surveillance cameras, then dropped a day planner and wallet he had taken from the truck and slowly walked away.

"You see 'em look up at it, then drop what they'd taken out of my truck and took off. I think the cameras definitely saved us," he said.


I think that's the craziest part of the whole video is they weren't in a hurry, they weren't running. They were just casually walking down the street, casually getting in my truck. They were laughing. They were not scared at all.

–Travis Bonino


In the morning, Bonino's neighbor alerted him that his truck door was open as well as his garage.

"Freaked out. Totally freaked out. Just having someone in your house, in your garage, in your yard," he said was his reaction. "That's all I thought about all day. What if they had come in the house, or what if I would have walked outside? What would have happened?"

South Jordan police said Sunday that several cars were burglarized that morning, and at least one car was stolen from a garage when the burglars found a garage door opener in a vehicle in the driveway.

Officer Sam Winkler said investigators were looking not only at whether all the incidents in his city could be connected, but also whether the same suspects are responsible for other recent similar crimes in Bluffdale.

At least five homes and two vehicles were burglarized by a group of four men in the past three weeks in that city. Just like the calm burglars who entered Bonino's garage, the men in Bluffdale entered a couple of homes while the homeowners were still inside, and in one case they apparently entered a man's bedroom where he was was still sleeping and they took a wallet out of his pants that were on the floor, according to police.

Surveillance video captured some of the thieves in at least one of the Bluffdale burglaries. Investigators were looking Sunday at whether a tattoo on one of the men's right forearms matched in each video.

Saratoga Springs police, whose jurisdiction includes Bluffdale, said they recently recovered a stolen vehicle with stolen property inside from burglaries in Salt Lake and Davis counties and were investigating whether those are also related.

Anyone with information on the burglaries can call police at 801-840-4000 or 801-794-3970.

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Pat Reavy

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