This browser does not support the Video element.
Suspected serial burglar caught on camera
Montgomery County police say they've arrested a suspected serial burglar - and he's just 16-years-old.
GERMANTOWN, Md. - Montgomery County police say they caught a 16-year-old serial burglar in the act.
READ MORE: Montgomery County police ID suspect targeted in Gaithersburg downtown Crown search
Investigators have linked him to a dozen burglaries and attempted break-ins in Germantown over three weeks.
The suspect, who lives in Germantown, was released to the custody of his mother.
Neighbors shared surveillance video with FOX 5 that shows the suspect trying to open patio doors on Ansel Terrace in the middle of the night.
"We actually got up to go to the bathroom and it was like, ‘Oh my God somebody’s been trying to get in,’" said Toni Conner.
She and her husband, Fred, watched the surveillance video of a stranger on their deck, opening their screen door, trying to get inside and then walking away. It was 3:40 a.m. on April 12.
They started checking with neighbors and realized someone had been creeping on porches and, in some cases, getting into homes.
Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather
Another woman who lives on the same block of Ansel Terrace heard from neighbors to check her surveillance footage. The woman, who didn’t want to be named, also saw a guy trying to get into her deck overnight.
"I was petrified," she said. "That’s the last thing I expected."
The Conners hadn’t seen the last of him. The same guy came back three days later on April 15.
"Which made me kind of furious because I don’t know what he was trying to do," said Fred.
Police said hours later, the suspect showed up at another home in the 17700 block of Cricket Hill Drive, got inside and was in the basement when officers arrived. Police say they caught him there and that he was carrying jewelry stolen from a package from yet another home.
The suspect is now facing a slew of burglary charges, and a neighborhood with a lot of alarms and cameras already will get a few more.
"I’m getting the whole thing installed on Tuesday, alarms and cameras," said neighbor Marilyn Balcombe.
Police said the suspect is linked to these burglaries and attempted burglaries:
March 25 – 18000 block of Wheatridge Drive
March 31 – 12900 block of McCubbin Lane
March 31 – 18100 block of Stags Leap Terrace
April 12 – 13500 block of Ansel Terrace
April 14 – 12500 block of Sanderling Place
April 15 – three additional burglaries in the 13500 block of Ansel Terrace
April 15 – 12900 block of Barleycorn Terrace
April 15 – 17800 block of Marble Hill Place