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HEBER CITY — A Roy police officer's duty weapon, badge and ballistic vest were among the stolen items recovered when investigators in Wasatch County arrested two people suspected in a crime spree that spans five Utah counties.
Authorities in Salt Lake, Summit, Utah, Wasatch and Weber counties were looking for Dwayne Harrison Sandridge and Kimberly Monique Martinez when they were arrested Thursday, according to Wasatch County sheriff's deputy Rick Keel.
The arrests came three days after Keel was called to investigate a vehicle break-in near Deer Creek Reservoir. Credit and debit cards were stolen in the burglary and then used in Salt Lake, Summit and Utah counties, Keel said.
Surveillance video from the credit and debit transactions helped investigators identify Sandridge and Martinez as suspects in the Wasatch County vehicle burglary, the deputy said.
Arrest warrants were obtained for Sandridge, 45, and Martinez, 23. Once those were served, officers also secured search warrants for the couple's house and vehicle.
During the execution of the search warrants, deputies recovered a number of items, including a duty weapon, duty belt, badge and ballistic vest that belong to a Roy police officer.
Roy police spokesman Bryce Weir confirmed Monday that the items had been stolen "a week or two ago" from an unmarked police car.
After he was arrested, Sandridge told police he had burglarized "15 to 20 vehicles."
"We put out alerts to other law enforcement agencies to watch for those things," Weir said, noting that the police car was burglarized in an area where the Weber County Sheriff's Office has jurisdiction.
"We worked with them to investigate what happened," he said.
Weir added that a public appeal for help finding the stolen gun, badge and vest was never made because authorities didn't believe it would help solve the case.
After he was arrested, Sandridge told police he had burglarized "15 to 20 vehicles," Keel said. That number and the charges against the couple are expected to grow as investigations by multiple police agencies continue, the deputy said.
"This was a real collective effort," he said.
Sandridge and Martinez were booked into the Wasatch County Jail. They are each charged in 4th District Court with eight counts of possession of a stolen transaction card, a third-degree felony; one count of theft, a third-degree felony; one count of vehicle burglary, a class A misdemeanor; and 18 counts of unlawful use of a transaction card, a class B misdemeanor.
