This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Three burglars were caught by police Monday in Cottonwood Heights after fleeing the victim's home in a car registered to Mark Shurtleff.

But the former Utah attorney general was unconnected to the crime, police say.

"[Shurtleff] did not have anything to do with the burglary, and none of his family had anything to do with the burglary," said Cottonwood Heights police Sgt. Corbett Ford. One of the suspects is a friend or boyfriend of Shurtleff's daughter and apparently borrowed the car, Ford said.

Ford described the burglary as a "crime of opportunity." A door was left open between a house and its garage near 2900 East and 7400 South, Ford said. A daughter of the homeowner arrived at the house about 3 p.m. and saw three men carrying items out of the garage, Ford said.

She confronted the trio, who got into the black Acura and fled. The daughter followed them in her car, and a patrol officer intercepted them near 2300 E. Fort Union Blvd.

The three men, two 18 and one 22, were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of burglary. One of them also is suspected of multiple traffic offenses, and another is suspected of drug crimes.