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Home surveillance catches burglary in progress

Posted at 9:41 PM, Aug 05, 2013
and last updated 2013-08-06 12:06:21-04

KEARNS -- A Kearns man set up home surveillance in hopes of catching the people breaking into his vehicle.

William Ward said the suspects have been burglarizing his truck for months.

He hopes the surveillance footage, which shows the suspects in action, will help police catch those involved. However, police say Ward could have prevented the break-ins.

The video shows two suspects, one in particular breaking into Ward’s truck with ease. The criminals, Ward said, have burglarized his vehicle nearly half a dozen times. This time, the footage shows a clear picture of one of the suspects bandaging his face up.

"I've done about everything I can,” Ward said. “I just got to catch them on camera; I don't know if this will be good enough or not but this needs to stop. This is the fifth time since November."

Strike five was this past Saturday around 4 a.m. outside Ward's home near 5600 South and 5600 West in Kearns.

"I noticed the doors on the service truck some of them were open too, so I looked and then went up and looked at the security cameras and I seen what I seen," Ward said.

The surveillance video showed a man nonchalantly walk up to his black truck. One of the suspects covered up his face and began rummaging through the vehicle. A clearer picture of the bandaged bandit shows him trying to open up the compartments where his tools are.

"I think that's what they're mainly after, recyclable stuff but this time they got in my personal vehicle and took a GPS, a power inverter, some CDs, some cash and expensive flashlight," Ward said.

Police say there's a valuable lesson in all this. Lt. Justin Hoyal with the Unified Police Department said detectives are actively investigating the case but points out, car burglaries can be avoided.

"It appears the suspects were able to access the vehicle through an unlocked door," Hoyal said.

Ward is hopeful the footage he captured will help stop the suspect from striking again.

If you know anything or recognize the suspects, call Unified Police at 801-743-7000