CLAY COUNTY, Fla. -- Two Jacksonville men were recently placed in the Clay County Jail, facing burglary and grand theft charges related to a series of crimes committed to occupied homes with open garage doors.

The Clay County Sheriff's Office said detectives who were investigating the burglaries closely with Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detectives arrested 23-year-old Matthew Lesniak and 25-year-old Aaron Woods late last week.

Detectives said they believe that since December, Lesniak and Woods had been targeting affluent neighborhoods in the middle of the day by cruising subdivisions looking for homes with open garage doors.

Even if residents were noticeably inside the home or in the back yard doing lawn work, one suspect would enter the garage looking for valuable items to pawn and then load the items into a waiting vehicle driven by the other suspect, authorities said.

"People could have been in the back yard or in the house when they were actually going in their garages. At one point, they entered over 15 houses in one day. They only stole stuff from three of those houses, but it just shows you that no one every saw them," said Clay County Detective Jerry Bay.

In all, more than 100 stolen items were taken to pawn shops outside of Clay County and in Georgia, police said.

The most targeted items were golf clubs, generators and pressure washers; all of which are items easily pawned.

Authorities said the arrests highlight the need for all residents, regardless of home location, to take measures to protect their property.

The men are facing seven charges in Clay County with additional charges pending in Duval County.