FROM STAFF REPORTS

A pair of juvenile males are being held in the Shelby County Juvenile Detention Facility in Columbiana after police said they were involved in a string of vehicle burglaries in Helena.

According to a Helena Police Department press release, the burglaries happened during the early morning hours of Jan. 23 in the Riverwoods subdivision.

Police said one suspect was a 14-year-old white male from Helena and another was a 15-year-old white male from Helena. According to the press release, the suspects stole several items from unlocked cars in the neighborhood before they were arrested on Jan. 24.

“The two stated that if the door was locked they just went on to the next one that was not,” Helena Deputy Police Chief Tim Carter wrote in the release. “It is important to not that all of the vehicles from which items were taken were unlocked. This is typical of this type of crime.

“Very seldom do we see vehicles which are actually ‘broken’ into,” Carter wrote, noting the property stolen in the burglaries had been located. “People are much less likely to be victimized by simply locking their car doors.”