Police in Montgomery County, Maryland, say they have arrested a D.C. teen suspected in a string of burglaries in Wheaton, including one break-in where they said he made off with a Mercedes from a car dealership.
The 16-year-old is suspected in five separate burglaries, starting with the theft of the Mercedes from the Lindsay Ford dealership on Veirs Mill Road shortly before 3 a.m. on Nov. 13. A surveillance camera captured the teen breaking a glass door, entering the showroom and driving off with the high-end car, police said in a news release.
Later that night, police said the teen broke the glass door on a Target at the Westfield Wheaton Mall a few blocks away but wasn’t able to get beyond a second door.
On Nov. 21 around 3 a.m., the same teen was seen on surveillance footage breaking into another Lindsay Ford location on Veirs Mill Road. Several minutes later, a patrol officer heard an alarm going off at the Dick’s Sporting Goods store at the mall, and responding officers discovered a broken window.
About an hour later, officers on patrol through downtown Wheaton said they spotted the teen who matched the suspect description in the string of burglaries. The teen was arrested and charged with burglary and auto theft charges.
Sgt. Dan Helton, with the Montgomery County Police, told WTOP the teen later led the police to D.C. where the stolen Mercedes was parked, and it was returned to the dealership.
After the teen was arrested and charged, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services declined to hold him, Helton said, and he was instead turned over to the county juvenile authorities.
