Two male teen-agers, 17 and 15, booked in numerous vehicle burglaries that happened Aug. 18 in Arabi

Two male teen-agers, 17 and 15, have been arrested in connection with 13 vehicle burglaries that happened in Old Arabi, between St. Claude Avenue and the Mississippi River, in the early morning hours of Saturday, Aug. 18, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

A witness who heard noise after 4 a.m. came outside and saw vehicles being burglarized, saw a suspect and called the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies arrived and found Michael Staes, 17, who has relatives in St. Bernard but has been living in the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, hiding behind a garbage can in the area of the burglaries, Sheriff Pohlmann said. I Staes was carrying on him several items reported taken in burglaries, the sheriff said. Recovered property included a phone, a bracelet, silver coins and other items.

Staes, who just turned 17 and has no previous criminal record as an adult, was initially booked with six counts of vehicle burglary but seven additional counts have been added after he admitted to the string of burglaries, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

He said Staes was being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of bond of $69,000 but the bond will likely go higher when he appears before a judge on the added burglary counts.

Also, further investigation by sheriff’s detectives led to a 15-year Chalmette boy, whose name wasn’t released because he is a minor. The teen-ager was also booked on 13 counts of vehicle burglary and was placed in the parish Juvenile Detention Center, Pohlmann said.

The sheriff noted that nearly all of the vehicles involved were left unlocked and again urged residents to lock their vehicle at night, even in their driveways.

Some people have been known to walk down streets at night pulling on door handles, hoping to find unlocked vehicles with valuables inside. Sheriff Pohlmann also suggests gun owners who normally have weapons in their vehicles for protection to take them inside at night and lock them up.

“Don’t make it easy for thieves to take your property and especially try to prevent stolen guns from hitting the streets where they can be used in other crimes,”” Sheriff Pohlmann said.