Crime & Safety

Police: Teenager Charged After Series of Thefts, Vehicle Explosion

Police continue to investigate other possibly related thefts in the Gainesville area.

A local teenager faces charges after a series of vehicle thefts, a burglary and the explosion of a stolen vehicle over the weekend in the Gainesville area, Prince William County Police said. 

Police responded on Friday at 11:34 p.m. to the 8500 block of Foal Court, where a homeowner reported a stolen DVD player. The homeowner said that sometime between 9 p.m. Thursday and 5 a.m. Friday, a thief entered an attached garage through an open door and opened an unlocked vehicle. The DVD player, valued around $300, was inside.

Around the same time, an officer responded to the 8400 block of Cleveland Bay Court for a report of a vehicle that was stolen between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. 

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"The vehicle was parked in the driveway with the keys inside. While the officer was at the residence conducting the investigation he heard a loud explosion nearby," Officer Jonathan Perok, a spokesman for the police department, said in a press release. "Officers and fire crews found a vehicle fully engulfed in flames which was later determined to be the vehicle stolen from Cleveland Bay Ct."

Over the weekend, residents reported other thefts from vehicles in the same area—including a stolen firearm from an unlocked vehicle on Filly Court. 

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Police found one of the suspects by using a social media tip. After an investigation, the teenager was arrested. Police continue to investigate other thefts in the area. The Fire Marshal's Office is also investigating the vehicle arson, Perok said. 

The teenager is charged with burglary and grand larceny for the Foal Court incident, grand larceny-auto for the stolen vehicle, and grand larceny-firearm for the stolen gun. He is held at the juvenile detention facility. 


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