Chattanooga Police have arrested a man in connection with 17 residential burglaries that occurred in the Chattanooga area.
Police said Steven Thomas, 27, was out on bond and on probation for previous burglary charges when he carried out other break-ins.
Thomas was arrested Thursday by Investigator Mike Early and Phil Grubb of the Property Crimes Investigation Unit after police said he confessed to other burglaries that he committed.
According to the investigators, a residential burglary was reported on 5th Avenue. The victim told the investigator that her digital camera and other electronics had been taken. The victim provided the serial numbers for her belongings, and the investigator contacted a local pawn shop and determined some of the belongings had been pawned within an hour of the burglary.
The investigator then identified the man pawning the stolen goods as Thomas, who was on probation for burglary.
Investigators went to Thomas’s residence and attempted to apprehend him. Police said Thomas fled out the back door.
A warrant was obtained for Thomas and he was arrested by patrol officers on Feb. 1.
Thomas was transported to the Hamilton County Jail, where he was allowed to make bond.
Investigators said Thomas proceeded to commit several other residential burglaries by kicking in doors, breaking out windows and even removing security bars.
On Thursday, investigators located Thomas and they said he confessed to 17 burglaries in the Sector Two area of Chattanooga. The area includes East Chattanooga, East Lake, Bushtown and Highland Park.
Investigators have also been able to recover some of the stolen property from the burglaries.
Assistant Chief Bobby Dodd, chief of investigations, said, “This is an excellent example of good solid investigative work. There were a lot of man hours and effort that went into this investigation and these officers did a great job. We hope this will send a message to the community that we are out there and we are solving these crimes. Anything they can do to help, like keeping good documentation and serial numbers, helps us greatly.”