Crime spree: 5 teens arrested in Hutto

HUTTO, Texas - Hutto police arrested five teens accused of a recent crime spree.

Investigators say the group burglarized several cars and are linked to two stolen vehicles out of Austin.

On Monday, Sept. 2, around 1:40 a.m., Hutto police were called to the Glenwood subdivision for nearly 10 car burglaries.

"One of our citizens had seen on their camera system that there were a group of kids walking down the street, trying door handles on cars, so we were dispatched to it. They called us immediately, which a big part of us being able to get to the area so quickly," says Lt. Nate Spraggins with Hutto Police Department.

Officers say they found three of the five teens when they arrived.

"We started having conversations to find out why they were in the neighborhood and while we were talking to the three juveniles, another two people were observed. They said they didn't know each other," says Lt. Nate Spraggins.

According to police, the teens did know each other and after being searched, officers found stolen items in their possession.

"There were wallets that were taken, there were chains, there was a set of car keys, there was an iPad and just a number of papers that had been gone through, and I believe a laptop computer was also taken. We noticed that there was property strung about on lawns in the neighborhood. Some of them had car keys on their person that didn't belong to cars," says Lt. Nate Spraggins.

Hutto police say they were able to use the footage from homes in the area to confirm the teens were at the crime scenes.

"Fortunately, we were able to catch them before they were able to leave the area, get a lot of property returned and later the next morning find vehicles that were reported stolen out of Austin and basically tie those together," says Lt. Nate Spraggins.

In the last six months, the police department said it has had nearly 50 car burglaries, but vehicle thefts are not common.

"Our community has had enough of our cars getting burglarized, and they want us to go catch you, so when they call us, we are going to head that way, and we are going to chase, we are going to go after you and do basically everything we can to take you into custody," says Lt. Nate Spraggins.

According to police, none of the break-ins were by forced entry. Residents are asked to lock their doors and take their belongings inside.