By Stacey Tucker (Contact / Staff Bio)
August 22, 2009 - 08:22 a.m. EST

REESE — Thousands of dollars worth of stolen items were recovered Monday, after some good old-fashioned police work.

Denmark Township police chief Fred Hecht received a call Monday morning from three area businesses reporting they had been burglarized over the weekend.

Star of the West Milling Co., Precision Autobody and Family Style Salon, located along south Van Buren Road were all targeted, resulting in the theft of cash, two laptops, walkie talkies, flashlights, a camera, tools and more.

After some investigating, and with the help of Tuscola County sheriff’s deputy Ted Hull, Hecht said they were able to locate the suspects and recover the stolen property.

A 23-year-old and three 19-year-olds who had recently moved into the area have become the center of the investigation.

“I had reason to believe the suspects lived in the area,” Hecht said. “I did some investigating at an apartment complex and ran the plates on two vehicles in the parking lot.

“By running these two plates, I found the owners of these two vehicles had criminal records and had recently moved into the area.”

Hecht then contacted Hull and the pair paid the owners of the vehicles a visit at the apartment complex.

“They were sitting on the front porch. We introduced ourselves and advised them of the situation, in which they denied,” Hecht said. “I told them this has been a nice little town until they moved in.”

After getting permission from the owner of the apartment building, Hecht and Hull searched the apartment, locating many of the stolen items in a bedroom closet.

“The suspects admitted to breaking into the places,” Hecht said. “They took us into a back utility shed where we recovered the rest of the property.”

Hecht said the four suspects signed a statement of guilt and warrants are pending. They will be facing charges of burglary, larceny and possession of stolen property.

“We got very lucky,” Hecht said. “It’s not like it is on TV; this kind of thing never happens this easily.”

The suspects could be arraigned on the burglaries as early as next week.

Stacey Tucker is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at tucker@tcadvertiser.com.