BERLIN — Freshly fallen snow on Wednesday night helped Berlin Police track footsteps of a suspect who allegedly broke into at least four cars in town.
Around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Berlin Police responded to the area of Ann Drive for a reported vehicle break-in that had just occurred. As officers were arriving on the scene, they were informed by the dispatcher the suspect, later identified as Terrill Pitts, 44, of Salisbury, was walking toward Powell Circle. Officers located Pitts on Powell Circle and detained him.
The complainants advised police they had observed Pitts approaching their residence and then make entry into one of their vehicles. The victims were able to scare Pitts off after using the vehicle’s remote key to lock the doors to the vehicle with the suspect inside. An inspection of the property found that, in addition to the vehicle Pitts had entered, entry had been attempted in a second vehicle parked in the driveway.
Earlier in the evening, fresh snow had fallen on the Berlin area and officers were able to back-track Pitts’ footprints around the neighborhood, eventually locating four additional properties the suspect had entered in an attempt to gain entry into vehicles.
Pitts was taken into custody and charged with six counts of rogue and vagabond and four counts of fourth-degree burglary. He was taken to the Berlin Police Department for processing, and was then taken before a District Court Commissioner, who ordered him to be held on a $20,000 bond. According to police reports, Pitts has a history of theft including theft from vehicles.
According to each of the victims, no property appeared to have been taken from the vehicles. However, Pitts was found in possession of several items that appeared as if they may have been taken from at least one other vehicle that officers were not able to locate due to the weather conditions at the time of the incident.
Meanwhile, the Berlin Police Department is reminding residents to keep their vehicles locked to prevent thefts and is asking anyone who believes their vehicle may have been tampered with on Wednesday night to contact the department at 410-641-1333. Pitts’ route of travel would have taken him on Main, Broad, and West Streets, the Henry’s Mill subdivision, Ann Court and Powell Circle.