Arlington police arrested two men who are suspected of breaking into more than 20 vehicles in one day and stealing GPS systems and iPods from them Friday.
Police believe the men could be responsible for a rash of car thefts targeting GPS units that has been plaguing the county, police spokesman John Lisle said.
“This has been kind of an ongoing problem,” he said. “We had more than 50 reports of GPS units being taken from cars in the county in January alone.”
Police arrested the two 21-year-old men, both D.C. residents, after multiple people reported seeing two men tampering with cars by S. Four Mile Run Drive and Walter Reed Drive Friday morning.
Shortly after, a police officer and a sheriff’s deputy spotted the men’s car heading northbound on Interstate 395.
The men crashed the car into a guardrail and ran, according to police.
Police found them hiding inside an apartment building on the 1100 blockof Army Navy Drive and took them into custody.
Arlington police issued a reminder Friday that drivers who own portable GPS units should not leave them in their cars.
“People are breaking into cars to steal them even if they don’t see them – they just see the suction cups on the windshield and know they could be inside,” Lisle said.
