Davagator
02-01-2005, 04:08 PM
Police In Irondequoit say footprints in the snow led them directly from a burglarized home to the burglars themselves.
Those footprints ultimately helped them to uncover a burglary ring.
They believe that ring robbed more than 20 homes in Irondequoit, Webster, Greece and Rochester.
Police say they recently responded to a daytime burglary of a home on Empire Blvd. While there, they noticed footprints near the home and followed them to another home in the area where they found Matthew Lewis, 16, of Irondequoit.
Lewis and a girl at the home, 14, admitted to the robbery. The girl, a city of Rochester resident, also admitted to several others.
They pointed police to Michael Shoaf. Schoaf, 17, of Irondequoit, was arrested just days later. He, too, was part of the burglary ring.
The last teenager to be arrested for the burglaries was Giovanni Torres, 18, of Rochester.
Irondequoit Police say Torres made it easier for investigators to find him when he was arrested in neighboring Ontario County for armed robbery just a couple days ago.
He remains behind bars in the Ontario County Jail.
As of Tuesday morning, Shoaf was being held in the lockup at the Irondequoit police station.
Lewis is out on bail. The identity of the young girl found with Lewis is being withheld as police are treating her as a juvenile offender.
Lewis, Shoaf and Torres will all be tried as adults. They currently face felony charges of burglary and criminaly possession of stolen property. If convicted, they could face three to five years in jail.
Irondequoit Police say the investigation into the burglaries is far from over. They believe there are still more teenage burglars in the Irondequoit area.
However, they do not believe that these teens are responsible for any "pillowcase burglaries." Thieves that practice this technique usually break into a home, steal a pillowcase off of a bed and fill it will small valuables. Instead of big-ticket items like televisions, they usually steal money and jewelry. Only a handful of Irondequoit's 40 burglaries this year were "pillowcase burglaries."
Those footprints ultimately helped them to uncover a burglary ring.
They believe that ring robbed more than 20 homes in Irondequoit, Webster, Greece and Rochester.
Police say they recently responded to a daytime burglary of a home on Empire Blvd. While there, they noticed footprints near the home and followed them to another home in the area where they found Matthew Lewis, 16, of Irondequoit.
Lewis and a girl at the home, 14, admitted to the robbery. The girl, a city of Rochester resident, also admitted to several others.
They pointed police to Michael Shoaf. Schoaf, 17, of Irondequoit, was arrested just days later. He, too, was part of the burglary ring.
The last teenager to be arrested for the burglaries was Giovanni Torres, 18, of Rochester.
Irondequoit Police say Torres made it easier for investigators to find him when he was arrested in neighboring Ontario County for armed robbery just a couple days ago.
He remains behind bars in the Ontario County Jail.
As of Tuesday morning, Shoaf was being held in the lockup at the Irondequoit police station.
Lewis is out on bail. The identity of the young girl found with Lewis is being withheld as police are treating her as a juvenile offender.
Lewis, Shoaf and Torres will all be tried as adults. They currently face felony charges of burglary and criminaly possession of stolen property. If convicted, they could face three to five years in jail.
Irondequoit Police say the investigation into the burglaries is far from over. They believe there are still more teenage burglars in the Irondequoit area.
However, they do not believe that these teens are responsible for any "pillowcase burglaries." Thieves that practice this technique usually break into a home, steal a pillowcase off of a bed and fill it will small valuables. Instead of big-ticket items like televisions, they usually steal money and jewelry. Only a handful of Irondequoit's 40 burglaries this year were "pillowcase burglaries."