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PLEASANT GROVE — A man who claims he burglarized the same home under construction about 10 times, because he was in debt, has been arrested.
Spencer Gordon Olson, 33, of Pleasant Grove, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of five counts of burglary and three counts of theft.
According to a police booking affidavit, Pleasant Grove police have been called to the same home under construction at least six times since December. In each case, a man was observed on surveillance video entering the home and taking tools and others items, the affidavit states.
On Monday, the man was seen breaking into the house again. This time, officers arrived in time to find Olson who was carrying a drill, flashlight, hacksaw and a backpack. When questioned, "Spencer admitted that the backpack with tools were in the event he should need them to get into the home," according to the affidavit.
As investigators continued to interview Olson, he told them he had returned to the home about 10 times over the past six months and "claimed to have taken construction tools from the home on multiple occasions, including drills, hand carts and other items," the affidavit states.
He also admitted to taking doorbell cameras and smart thermostats from another home under construction, that were still in their boxes and waiting to be installed, according to the affidavit. Police later found those items for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
"Spencer admitted that he planned to sell the items to pay off debt," police stated.
Police then served a search warrant on Olson's home where more property, allegedly taken from other job sites, was found.
"Detectives recovered multiple drills, microwave, Logitech doorbell, 2 Ecobee smart thermostats and other construction tools. Spencer reported that he visited multiple job sites around Utah and Salt Lake County, but could not remember them all. Spencer said he could not remember all the property he has stolen from these job sites," according to the affidavit.
