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SOUTH SALT LAKE — Unified police have recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property stolen from homes, cars and storages units throughout Salt Lake County.
"This is probably one of the largest seizures I've seen in my career of stolen property," Unified Deputy Police Chief Justin Hoyal said Wednesday at the department's evidence storage warehouse, where the recovered stolen property is being held.
Bicycles, power tools, rare coins, guns, comic books, sports memorabilia, golf clubs, skis, snowboards, a motorcycle, stamps, dental equipment and even gear from the Unified Fire Authority that was stolen out of a firefighter's personal vehicle have been recovered.
"This is a significant dent in the burglary community that's been going on throughout this county," Hoyal said.
The investigation began several weeks ago following a series of burglaries at the Station Condominium Complex, near 2250 East and 4700 South. Detectives believe at least two people spent several hours breaking into seven condos and storage units at the complex. After interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance video, Unified police officers from multiple precincts served three search warrants on Monday — two at storage sheds in West Jordan and Midvale and one at a home in West Jordan where the main suspect lives, Hoyal said.
As police got ready to serve the warrant at the residence, a man got into a stolen vehicle and sped away, according to police. Hoyal said that man is considered the main suspect in the burglary ring. Police know his identity but were still looking for him Wednesday and have not yet released his name. Detectives were also trying to determine how many other people are involved in the operation.
"We don't believe that he worked alone," he said. "We know that there were other people who were involved and we are still working on this case. This is still very early in this investigation."
At the two storage units and the West Jordan residence where the search warrants were served, police found a cache of stolen property. Investigators believe the items were stolen from potentially hundreds of victims throughout Salt Lake County over the past several months.
"You name it, we ... found it in here," Hoyal said.
How the group planned on getting rid of the stolen property — whether they were going to sell it online, at a pawn shop or elsewhere — was still being investigated Wednesday.
It will now take detectives several weeks to go through all the items and attempt to determine whom they belong to. Hoyal encourages anyone who has had property stolen recently to contact Unified police at 385-468-9920. He said the case is a good reminder to all residents of the importance of keeping track of serial numbers of valuable items in their homes, which will make it much easier for police to return stolen property to its rightful owners.
