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It's a good evening for residents in one small Cache County city. Four suspects have been arrested in a burglary spree that has terrorized neighborhoods.
Smithfield police say there were dozens of homes broken into, all in one night. At first, nobody knew how big this case was simply because all those robberies happened in just a few hours.
Police received one call that a home had broken into, then another, and another. In all, police are saying at least 40 homes and a dozen vehicles were broken into.
"Even in Smithfield, there's enough to keep us busy all year long," said Smithfield police Detective Travis Allen.
Because of Allen's work, there are a lot of residents who now feel safer. Although, he says the credit should actually go to them. "It was because of the citizens, and them paying attention, that we were actually able to catch up with these guys," he said.
The guys he's talking about are Mario Alberto Quintero-Sandoval and Rene Gustavo Renoult Ramirez, both illegal aliens, and Oswaldo Vidrio and a 17-year-old male from Logan.
Allen says the four are responsible for the more than 40 home burglaries. This past week, though, he was able to catch them and arrest them.
"They weren't breaking windows or busting through doors to make entry. They were just checking. If [the doors] were locked, they'd move onto the next home. If they weren't, it was free game. They'd go in and take whatever they felt was of value," Allen said.
Most of the homes broken into were in the Summit Drive area on Smithfield's east bench. Because they occured in the middle of the night, most people were home and didn't even know someone had come in.
"It has had the ripple effects throughout the entire community," said Smithfield Police Chief Johnny McCoy.
Even though the suspects have been arrested, Allen says it's just a reminder that even Smithfield isn't "Mayberry" anymore, and doors should always be locked. "It's unfortunate it has to come to this before people will start acting," he said.
Now people have started acting. A neighborhood watch has been set up in that area.
Luckily, police were able to recover all the items that were stolen.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
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