Men charged with breaking into Cottonwood Heights police chief's police car
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2009, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Two men were charged Thursday with allegedly stealing a Taser, police radio and law enforcement pins and patches from the undercover police car of Cottonwood Heights Police Chief Robby Russo.

The break-in and theft occurred June 29 when a neighbor saw two men break into two vehicles at Russo's Salt Lake County home, charging documents state.

The neighbor watched the men leave in a car and wrote the license plate number down.

Russo later told Midvale police detectives investigating the case that a $900 Taser, a $2,195 police radio and various patches and law enforcement pins valued at about $100 were stolen from his undercover police car.

A $200 iPod was also stolen from a second car that Russo's daughter drives, charging documents state. The window of that car was broken out.

Police tracked the license plate number of the getaway car to an apartment complex near 4900 South and 500 West. There, a 30-year-old Taylorsville man and a 22-year-old Midvale man were arrested .

Detectives also found police patches and car decals nearby that came from Russo's unmarked police car. During the search, investigators recovered the rest of the stolen items except for the police radio, charging documents state.

The two men were charged with third-degree felony theft, misdemeanor vehicle burglary and criminal mischief.

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