By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Two suspects are being held in the Shelby County Jail on bonds of more than $160,000 each after they were arrested and charged with a multi-city rash of car break-ins.

Helena police arrested 18-year-old Birmingham resident Derick Brown and 18-year-old Birmingham resident Deangelo Horton on Oct. 25 after receiving a call from a resident reporting suspicious activity in the Fieldstone subdivision.

After responding to the scene and launching a brief search, Helena’s night shift officers located and arrested the two suspects, said Helena police Sgt. Chris Rollan. Rollan said police recovered “several thousand dollars” worth of allegedly stolen items, and said the items linked the suspects to multiple break-ins in Helena and Alabaster.

“Every vehicle that was burglarized was unlocked. It’s very rare now that someone physically breaks out a window when the car is parked in a driveway,” Rollan said, noting the department is encouraging residents to lock their car doors and never leave valuable items in plain sight in a vehicle.

Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney said items found with the suspects allegedly linked Brown and Horton to “about seven or eight” vehicle break-ins in southern Alabaster.

Horton has been charged with two counts of second-degree receiving stolen property, two counts of theft of property first degree, one count of first-degree receiving stolen property, eight counts of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, four counts of third-degree theft of property and two counts of second-degree theft of property. He is being held in the Shelby County Jail on bonds totaling $164,000.

Brown has been charged with one count of first-degree receiving stolen property, two counts of first-degree theft of property, two counts of second-degree receiving stolen property, eight counts of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, two counts of second-degree theft of property, four counts of third-degree theft of property and one count of second-degree promoting prison contraband. Brown is being held in the Shelby County Jail on bonds totaling $179,000.

Brown’s promoting prison contraband charge came after law enforcement allegedly discovered marijuana in his possession at the jail, according to court documents.