Two teenagers have been charged after being caught breaking into several apartment units in the 400 block of South Street in Portsmouth.
Portsmouth Police say a resident in the building contacted the building maintenance officer after hearing a noise coming from an adjacent apartment.
When the caller and maintenance officer investigated, they found the rear door of a downstairs apartment damaged from someone kicking it in, and the front door open.
The 67-year-old woman who lived in the apartment was not home at the time.
A trail of evidence indicated the direction the suspects were traveling and police arrived to search the area.
Within minutes, officers found a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy on bicycles attempting to leave the area.
The boys were detained and searched, which revealed several items that had been stolen from the victim’s apartment along with several pieces of jewelry that did not belong to the victim.
An additional search of the apartment complex revealed a second apartment that had been broken into while the 60-year-old resident was away. Jewelry and electronics had been taken.
Officers were able to recover all of the items and they were later returned.
Both suspects were detained and charged with two counts each, burglary, grand larceny, destruction of property and larceny with the intent to sell. Both were turned over to the Chesapeake Detention Center, pending a hearing in Portsmouth Juvenile Court.
