BURLINGTON, N.C. — Burlington Police are investigating after six stolen cars were found in the Triad, and the suspects they're talking to are minors.
Police said a call came in Thursday morning around 9:30 about a careless and reckless driver on Apple Street.
"Once again the community stepped up and called in a careless and reckless vehicle on Apple Street in Burlington. Officers responded and found that vehicle abandoned with the doors open, and within just a close proximity to that, found a couple of individuals that they tried to speak with," said Burlington Assistant Police Chief Brian Long.
Officers found another stolen car in the area in Burlington, and then four other stolen cars in Gibsonville and Greensboro.
Now, all agencies are working together in this investigation. Long said two suspects, a 16-year-old and 12-year-old, have been released to their parents and will be petitioned to juvenile court.
Long said crimes like these are a troubling trend they're seeing in the area.
"That area, unfortunately, over the last 30 days has been an area where we’ve contacted other stolen vehicles. We definitely know there are some things going on in that community and we keep getting drawn to that community to make these car recoveries so we're asking residents in that area to continue to be diligent when they see something that doesn’t look right give us a call and we'll come investigate it," he said.
But Burlington Police and other local organizations are working to stop these trends before they take hold of kids by getting them involved.
"We took a big commitment in the last 18 months and we actually hired positions. One of those positions we hired is a youth diversion coordinator specifically designed to take kids that may not have found other things to do in the community and help divert them even after they’ve committed a low-level offense," said Long, "If they’ve committed some low-level offense we recognize that immediately taking that child and taking them through the justice system is not the best alternative. We want to try and find opportunities in our community and working with community partners so kids have other things to do other than being out in the middle of the night."
City Gate Dream Center is one of the organizations the police department is in contact with. Executive Director Lisa Edwards
"When kids feel a sense of purpose or sense of belonging they’re not looking for those other things or they're not pulled in to those other situations. What somebody might be promising them through some things that are just going to send them down a wrong path we can provide just by being encouraging and being somebody that believes in them," she said.
Edwards said they work to create a safe and positive environment for kids to dream bigger than what they might see around them.
"The beginning of the year we had some of our students write a note about something they'd like to do new this year and one of the boys wrote on there, 'I just want to come here every day because I don’t want to make the choices I've been making,'" she said.