A 31-year-old Provo man has been booked into jail in six Orem burglaries, but police say he may be a suspect in dozens of others.
The man who authorities said was caught by Lindon police in the act of burglarizing a business was booked Wednesday into the Utah County Jail on suspicion of several felonies including six counts of burglary of a business, forgery, possession of stolen property, fraudulent registration and false vehicle identification number; plus 10 counts of misdemeanor unlawful use of a financial transaction card and misdemeanor unlawful possession of a financial credit card.
Orem police said that since December 2011, 52 Orem businesses have been victims of a burglar who breaks the glass in a front window or door, enters the business and steals property, money, credit cards and checks.
Police obtained surveillance video of several burglaries, along with still photos and videos of the burglar using the stolen credit cards.
So far, police say, they believe they have linked the man to burglaries at Jiffy Lube, Rocky's American Car Care, Wienerschnitzel, Sprinkler World, Air Conditioning & Heating Supply and ASAP Appraisals, all businesses in Orem. Detectives are still following up on leads in the remaining cases, police said, but they feel confident they will be able to link the man to those cases as well.
"We believe that he may be a suspect in over 40 burglaries in Orem," police said in a news release.
Police say they have recovered property connected to the burglaries from the man's car, which had the VIN number altered.
jmiller@sltrib.com
Twitter: @jm_miller