3 arrested in burglaries

Salt Lake County sheriff's investigators have arrested three following this week's burglaries of the homes of two elderly women.

Using tips generated from surveillance video from an area Wal-Mart, police tracked the people to a local motel and spent Friday afternoon questioning them and securing search warrants in connection with the burglaries. The two homes, located directly across the street from each other, were broken into sometime Wednesday night near 3000 E. Fort Union Boulevard.

What has investigators concerned most is that the brazen burglar entered the homes while people inside were asleep, said Lt. Paul Jaroscak.

"It's really unusual for burglaries to happen with people in the house," he said.

At one house the burglar forced open a side door on a garage. At the other house, a screen was popped out and the burglar entered through an open window, Jaroscak said. Mostly personal items such as checks and IDs were taken. At one house, the suspect drove the homeowner's SUV right out of the garage.

In each case the home was occupied by an elderly female who lived alone. Although investigators believe the crimes are connected, Jaroscak said it was not believed Friday that elderly women living alone were specifically being targeted. That part, he said, appears to be coincidence.

The burglaries were discovered about 8 a.m. At least one of the women who had her credit cards stolen quickly canceled them, Jaroscak said.

About 9:30 a.m., a man and woman, both in their late 20s, according to investigators, were caught on surveillance video attempting to use the stolen credit card at Wal-Mart at 4627 S. 900 East. When they went through the checkout line, however, the card did not work.

"Then they even got the store manager to see if he could get it to work," Jaroscak said.

When the manager was unsuccessful, the couple left the store. The stolen SUV was recovered about 10:30 a.m. Thursday a few blocks away from the owner's house. A crowbar and gloves were found inside, Jaroscak said.

Investigators were also trying to determine Friday if the two burglaries could be linked to any other recent cases.

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