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RICHMOND -- Police have caught a group of men suspected in a two- month long crime spree. The thieves were caught while going door-to-door trying to sell guns.
Police say the four men and one juvenile brought an unusual increase in crime to Cache County as the number of home break-ins went up.
"We also had drive-by shootings and vehicle burglaries," said Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen. "Typically we don't see those things necessarily connected, but clearly they can be."
Connected because investigators believe 20-year-old Hector Diaz, 19-year-old Leonel Martinez, 29-year-old Antonio Orozco-Cruz and 18-year-old Jose Padilla were responsible for dozens of crimes throughout Northern Utah and Southern Idaho.
The initial tip came from these guys not going through their typical channels to fence the stolen items.
–Gary Jensen
"Anything of value that turns a quick dollar is what they were after," Jensen said.
In many of the cases, authorities say the men targeted hunters during hunting season, stealing rifles from cars. But police say they got caught in Richmond after making a big mistake.
"The initial tip came from these guys not going through their typical channels to fence the stolen items," Jensen said.
The men allegedly started canvassing neighborhoods trying to sell their stolen guns by doorstep. Jensen said the men happened to knock on the door of someone who recognized the firearm they were trying to sell as stolen property. The homeowner managed to hold the men for police.
"That was our lucky break," Jensen said. "But it did raise qurestions."
Once the men were arrested, several Utah and Idaho agencies started comparing notes, tying the cases together. Prosecutors in Idaho say a grand jury could bring federal charges against those men as soon as next week.