Reports of car break-ins earlier this year had become a daily routine at the Dover Police Department. Officers commonly would start the day with several incidents reported from the night before. Car stereos, iPods, GPS units and money were the primary targets taken from vehicles, often after a window had been smashed to gain access.

    No part of the city was immune from the burglars who hit what appeared to be random locations.

    Dover Police said they knew there was something to the rash of car break-ins that began in February but couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

    “They happened all over the city — east, west, north and south,” said Lt. Steven Getek, spokesman for the Dover Police Department.

First break
    On the night of April 19, officers finally got their break.

    A Bicentennial Village resident called to report six people allegedly wandering through the neighborhood, pulling on car doors and trying to get into vehicles, said Patrolman Derek Mast, one of the investigating officers in the case.

    Responding to the scene, Mast said the six suspects dispersed but officers were able to catch two of them. Arrested were Michael Watts, 18, of Lakeview Drive, and Randal Harris, 15, of White Oak Road. A backpack with two screwdrivers, metal pipe and a car stereo was found in the area.

    After waiving their Miranda rights and agreeing to an interview, Mast said the two revealed a car break-in ring that involved nearly a dozen school friends from Central Middle School and Dover High School. The group of 11 boys ranged in age from 15 to 19 and lived in residences ranging from public housing, apartment rentals and townhomes to tonier developments such as Cardinal Hills and Lakeshore Village, just south of Garrisons Lake.

    “They pretty much knew each other through school or hanging out together,” Getek said.

Fencing operation revealed
    During his interviews with Dover Police, Mast said Randal spoke of a “brother” that stole items from vehicles in the Felton and Harrington areas and gave them the idea that they could make money by selling the electronic items on the streets of Wilmington.
    “He’s a friend of Randal’s that Randal doesn’t want to give up,” Mast said. “We haven’t been able to confirm his identity.”

    But the boys apparently took his advice. One of the older teens allegedly drove up to Wilmington on a regular basis where Mast said he would quickly sell the electronic items on the street.

    Sgt. Steven Barnes, spokesman for the Wilmington Police Department, did not return phone calls for this article.

Eleven face charges
    Cpl. Gregory Hopkins said it took hours and hours of paperwork to connect the group to all the break-ins.

    “We researched every individual complaint that came in to see if it matched the other crimes,” he said.

    It is estimated in court documents that they broke into 200 vehicles from February to April 27 often going out nightly. Police totaled $91,000 in stolen property and $31,000 in property damage for more than 130 vehicles.

    Police lodged 242 charges of theft and criminal trespass against each of the suspects. Some turned themselves in while others were arrested through the police investigation. It took police more than two months to track down all the known suspects and police said they are searching for three more.

    Likewise, Hopkins said they’ve spoken with some parents while others haven’t talked to police at all.

    “The impression was they didn’t know their kids were out at night,” he said. “Some [parents] were working at night.”

    In addition to Randal and Watts, police arrested Tyriq James, 17, and Shawn Barr, 14, both of White Oak Road, Qadir Mosley-Thomas, 14, of Richard Bassett Road, Derrick Smith, 14, of South Farmview Drive, Julian Freeman, 19, of River Chase Drive, Joseph B. Coverdale, 16, of Seacroft Drive, Michael Wilson, 15, of Carvel Drive, and Rondree Campbell, 15, of Worchester Court.

    The fact that most of the suspects were juveniles and only two were adults was not a conscious effort to recruit younger kids for criminal activity because of the lesser penalties faced in Family Court, Hopkins said.

    “They were friends and that was the connection,” he said.

Email Melissa Steele at melissa.steele@doverpost.com.