Grape Thief Busted for Three Tempe Burglaries

Hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your grapes.Tempe police arrested a 17-year-old Phoenix kid suspected of a burglary on Friday afternoon -- as he sat eating the same grapes he'd stolen from a house he allegedly broke into...

By Matthew Hendley

March 1, 2011

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Hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your grapes.

Tempe police arrested a 17-year-old Phoenix kid suspected of a burglary on Friday afternoon -- as he sat eating the same grapes he'd stolen from a house he allegedly broke into.

Around 1 p.m. Friday, cops responded to a residential burglary call on the 1000 block of West Santa Cruz Drive in Tempe.

Using a witness description of the kid, police found him near Hardy Drive and the U.S. 60.

Police contacted the kid, who was eating the grapes and not-so-slyly dropping on the ground a pair of latex gloves he used during the burglary.

The cops thought he was also responsible for two other Tempe burglaries, between the 900 and 1100 blocks of West Manhatton Drive, to which he copped shortly after his arrest.

Since the kid is 17, the cops aren't releasing his name or photo, but say he's been booked into the Maricopa County Juvenile Detention Facility on three counts of burglary.

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