The Alabaster Police Department arrested three people Feb. 15 in connection with several residential burglaries throughout the city.

Police arrested 23-year-old Bessemer resident Jameson Finley, 23-year-old Birmingham resident Lionel Bates and 23-year-old Hoover resident Dandre Hughes after an officer spotted the suspects’ vehicle in the city.

Finley and Bates were charged with seven counts of third-degree burglary and five counts of first-degree theft of property, and Hughes was charged with five counts of third-degree burglary and three counts of first-degree theft of property.

“One of our patrol officers spotted the vehicle the suspects were using while answering another call,” Alabaster Deputy Chief Curtis Rigney wrote in a press release. “The vehicle fit the description of what we were looking for, so the officer investigated further.”

After the officer noticed several items in the car “that may have been linked to one or more of the (burglary) victims,” he called in detectives to execute a search warrant on the vehicle and an apartment, Rigney added.

While searching through the vehicle and apartment, deputies discovered more than $30,000 worth of stolen property and other evidence.

“Our officers have been looking for these men for weeks,” Rigney wrote, adding evidence recovered during the search may link the suspects to burglaries in Calera, Helena and cities in Jefferson County.

“It was just a matter of time before our officers found them,” Rigney added.

As of Feb. 15, Bates and Fenley remained in the Shelby County Jail on a $180,000 bond, and Hughes remained in the jail on a $120,000 bond