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St. Marys police caught two teens in reported auto theft; post funny narrative to Facebook

Photos posted on Facebook by the St. Marys Police Department. 

ST. MARYS, Ga. — Two teens were caught red handed in connection with stealing a truck with the keys inside and rummaging through several unlocked vehicles, police said said.

Police said the 17-year-old was arrested for theft by taking and two counts of entering an auto. The 15-year-old was turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

The St. Marys Police Department posted on Facebook how police found a 17-year-old and 15-year-old sleeping in bed with the keys lying on the bedside table.

A stolen truck, several vehicles entered, and one finger print.

It was a dark morning with people just beginning to awaken to a new day in St. Marys. Unfortunately for one resident, he wasn't able to get to work because someone had stolen his truck in the wee hours when most people are asleep. Most everyone knows you don't take things that aren't yours, but two young men in our town didn't get the memo. Instead of getting a good night's rest in preparation for school, they decided to see what happening at 3:30 a.m. in St. Marys.

After rummaging through several unlocked vehicles in one of our neighborhoods, they came upon our unsuspecting truck owner and they decided to go for a ride – after all, the keys were in it. That's a nice way of saying they stole the truck – a felony in Georgia.

Officer Walker took all the information necessary and got to work. Now we can't give away all of our secret crime solving techniques, but let's just say we were able to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Officer Magnani spotted the stolen truck parked in another part of town and collectively, we began a systematic approach to the case. It's good old fashioned police work. The truck was processed where a lone finger print was obtained and the hunt was on.

Our two would be criminals were found within hours of the initial report . . . fast asleep in their bed . . . with the keys to the truck on their bedside table. After officers gently woke them up with the smell of frying bacon and eggs, they were eager to answer our questions. Okay, getting woken up with the police in your bedroom isn't very gentle and there might have been some parental yelling, but we can't really comment on that.

Solving crime is sometimes a very slow process, but it sure helps when the criminals leave us lots of clues. After being caught red handed, the 17-year-old was arrested for theft by taking and two counts of entering an auto. All charges are felonies. The 15-year-old was turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Are you wondering about the lone fingerprint? It was a good part of the story, but when you have the original finger and that finger is attached to the body of the person in possession of the stolen vehicle, things just kind of fall into place.

So what's the moral of the story? First, keep your vehicles locked, even when they're in your driveway. Second, don't take stuff that ain't yours! There are several others, but those are for another day.

Some people on Facebook commented the post.

One comment said, "I got a kick out of that story!"

Another person commented, "Whoever the Facebook person is for the department needs a raise :) Great work St Marys PD and great work social media person, always funny write ups."

A stolen truck, several vehicles entered, and one finger print. It was a dark morning with people just beginning to...

Posted by St. Marys Police Department on Monday, September 19, 2016