FARMINGTON — Police have charged a young woman and issued warrants for a young man in connection with more than 20 car burglaries and theft of items from the cars over the last couple weeks in the High Street area.

Courtney Groder, 19, of Vienna was charged Tuesday with 18 counts of burglary to a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor charge, and one felony count of burglary to a dwelling, Farmington Detective Marc Bowering said. She was also charged on an unrelated theft of a laptop computer.

Warrants have been issued for James Smith, 22, of Leeds. The two have been staying with friends in the High Street area, Bowering said.

Since mid-July, police have been working on a rash of nightly burglaries. Some nights, three or four burglaries night have occurred in areas of town.

Last weekend, burglaries were reported from the Fairbanks Road area but other people are believed to have been involved in those, he said.

Police have investigated car burglaries since July 19 on the Fairbanks Road, High, Court and Church streets, and Granite Heights where items such as GPS systems, CDs and backpacks have been taken.

Police have reminded residents to keep their vehicles locked and immediately report hearing or seeing any strange activities. Some have told police their dogs were barking, but they didn’t think anything about it and then they report their loss the next morning.

In an unrelated theft, police have recovered two bicycles and a fishing pole stolen from an unlocked vehicle in the downtown area.

The items have not been reported stolen, Bowering said. Anyone who has had these items stolen from them is asked to call the Farmington Police Department at 778-6311 to identify them.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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