Police Nab Suspected Burglars At Pawn Shop

Officers from the Hyattsville City Police Department, again with the help of an observant resident, were able to apprehend two suspected juvenile burglars as they tried to sell stolen property at a local pawn shop yesterday

It all began Wednesday afternoon at 12:55 p.m. when police were dispatched to investigate two young men seen walking in the 5700 block of 29th Avenue in West Hyattsville carrying flat screen televisions. The report was called in by a West Hyattsville resident. 

Police responding to the scene were unable to locate the two in the area where they were spotted by the witness. They then investigated a pawn shop in the 3000 block of Hamilton Street where they encountered two juvenile boys, ages 14 and 17, attempting to sell the TVs. The stolen property had not yet changed hands. According to Hyattsville Police Chief Doug Holland, the two suspects were encountered as they were being ID'd by pawn shop staff. 

Meanwhile, other officers began to search for the house from where the televisions might have been stolen. One officer noticed a gate open in a house in the 5800 block of 30th Avenue and found that the house had been broken into. The city police deployed a K9 unit and swept the house for intruders. Finding none, police contacted the homeowners who were able to identify the televisions as their property. 

One of the suspects lives in the city of Hyattsville, the other is a Washington, D.C. resident.

Police are charging the two boys with various burglary related crimes, according to Holland. 

During the course of the investigation, Holland said that the two youths confessed to their involvement in two other burglaries in the immediate area. 

Holland said that there was no connection between these suspects and the recently publicized arrest of two individuals for attempted burglary which happened earlier this week. 

Holland went on to say that he hopes that recently publicized arrests will encourage more residents to call police when they spot suspicious behavior in their neighborhood.