Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
FARR WEST — A rash of car burglaries has led police to an ID-theft ring. The group stole a number of items from cars, but they were mainly after IDs and credit cards, according to Weber County deputies.
Five arrests were made over the weekend in a string of car burglaries that hit dozens of cars and open garages in Farr West. And Heather Bergsjo may be one of the luckier victims.
"When I got in that morning, I just noticed that my like coin thing had been pulled out," she said. "Luckily I didn't have anything real personal in the car, but I know a lot of my neighbors probably did, so that's kind of scary to think about."
Lt. Doug Coleman with the Weber County Sheriff's Office said there had been "quite a rash of them in northwest Weber County, including some of our small cities to the north here. A lot of unlocked cars and a lot of open garages are quite inviting and that's what happened."
The deputies noticed a trend: "A lot of these false credit card users started to pop up," Coleman said.
Luckily I didn't have anything real personal in the car, but I know a lot of my neighbors probably did, so that's kind of scary to think about.
–Heather Bergsjo
As they investigated those false charges, they were led to a fairly organized ID-theft ring, where runners would steal the information, and detectives say 30-year-old Zackery Stockton was the leader of the group. Police said they found inside his home they found the makings of a small operation.
Several agencies across Weber County were involved in tracking down the players, and more arrests are likely on the way.
Deputies say the key lesson here is to keep your car doors locked — they said there were never actually any windows smashed open.
Stockton was booked on several fraud charges. Most of the other suspects are just booked on burglary charges for now, but detectives say fraud charges are likely for them too.
