Provo police have arrested three teenage boys in a pair of store break-ins and burglaries, but it took them setting off illegal fireworks to bring the trio to justice.
Provo Police Chief Rick Gregory said Friday that the 13-year-old boys were taken into custody on Tuesday morning after complaints that they were setting off banned fireworks near 200 South and 200 East.
"[Officers ] found that one of the [teens] had a backpack with him containing approximately $300 worth of cigarettes. Police conducted an investigation and eventually charged the three juveniles with two counts of burglary, theft, criminal mischief and tobacco and curfew violations," Gregory said.
Investigators say the three were linked to a July 7 incident where the glass door of Allen's Grocery Store, 655 E. 300 South, was smashed with a rock. Candy, cigarettes and beer were stolen. Early Tuesday morning another glass door at the same store was shattered and more cigarettes were pilfered, Gregory said.
"These burglaries were solved by an adept officer who used proactive policing to look beyond a simple fireworks violation. Provo City has a curfew violation in place that is meant to act as an additional safeguard to prevent juveniles from engaging in criminal activity. We will aggressively enforce our current curfew statute to discourage these types of incidents," Gregory said.
