Several teens arrested following burglary spree in north Spokane
Three teens were arrested early Monday morning following burglaries at several businesses in north Spokane on Sunday.
Two of the teens were booked into Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center on burglary charges, the Spokane Police Department said in a news release. One man, 19-year-old Duane L. Comeslast Jr., was booked into Spokane County Jail on burglary charges.
Police said the spree started early Sunday morning, just before 2:30 a.m., in the 5500 block of North Wall Street, where officers responded to a report of teens breaking windows at Cozza Optical. Officers found one of the side windows had been broken and an alarm was blaring.
About an hour later, police said they were called to Best E-Ciggy smoke shop in the 1100 block of West Wellesley Avenue on a similar report. This time, two of the business’s front windows were broken in addition to a window for one of the front doors.
Following that break-in, about an hour later officers responded to Jitterz Java in the 2100 block of West Northwest Boulevard, where a witness reported seeing teens breaking into the coffee stand and rummaging through the business, police said. While investigating, officers were called to Monkey Boy Art just a few blocks away on West York Avenue on a report of broken windows and what looked like an attempted burglary.
At least two of the businesses had security cameras, which police said helped identify the suspects. Based on information they had developed, officers responded to a home in the 400 block of North Oak Street on Sunday evening and contacted the suspects, who they believe were responsible for all four break-ins.
Officers applied for a search warrant for the home and recovered some of the stolen items from Jitterz Java, and found clothing that matched what was worn by subjects caught in the surveillance footage, the news release said. They also found glass pipes stolen from Monkey Boy Art in a previous burglary several weeks ago.
Police said tips from the public helped them quickly identify the suspects.