KINGSLAND, Ga. – Two Kingsland teens arrested Sunday while trying to break into a marked Nassau County, Fla., deputy patrol car were found to have been driving a stolen truck carrying numerous other stolen items, according to the Kingsland Police Department.
Police said Nassau County deputies responded early Sunday morning to a report of two people trying to break into the cruiser of an off-duty deputy parked at the deputy's home.
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Deputies arrested 19-year-olds Lance Dondelinger and Brandon Jones and booked them into the Nassau County jail, where they were held before being released on bond.
At the time of the arrest, the truck the teens were driving was registered to a Kingsland resident and was stolen sometime the night before, police said.
Police said that inside the truck were items that appeared to be stolen from other vehicles or homes, and detectives determined that some of the items were from burglaries to cars in Kingsland that occurred over the last two months.
The teens were arrested in Kingsland on Tuesday and charged with theft by taking and entering auto, both felonies.
During a search of their home, deputies found numerous items of suspected stolen property, including GPS units, cellphones, iPods, laptops, tablets, cameras, military clothing and equipment, hunting equipment and game camera, sporting goods, wallets, purses, credit cards, driver's licenses and so forth.
The property will be returned to their owners after it's processed as evidence, police said.
To date, the teens have been linked to eight burglaries in Kingsland in the last two months, two burglaries in Nassau County, two burglaries in Fernandina Beach and two burglaries in Jacksonville, police said.
The processing of the evidence is ongoing with additional cases and victims to be identified shortly, police said.
Anyone who has not reported items missing from their vehicle over the last two months is encouraged to contact Detective Brian Aligood at 912-729-8254.