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Scottsdale, Goodyear serial burglar arrested

Posted at 3:54 PM, Apr 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-05 18:54:18-04

A man responsible for 11 home burglaries in Scottsdale and Goodyear over three months has been arrested and has been charged.

Court records show that from November 2015 to January 2016, a Goodyear man used his employer's van to steal over $50,000 worth of property from homes in Scottsdale and Goodyear, and was caught with the help of an observant landscaper.

Police say 25-year-old Davis Andrew Wanket was already on release for felony charges when he burglarized nine homes in Scottsdale and two in Goodyear.

All of the homes were either listed as "for sale" or "for rent," were unoccupied and staged with furniture, there were appliances, bathroom and kitchen decorations set up as well as electronics inside the homes.

A landscaper came to one of the homes, near 118th street and Rio Verde Drive and saw a white work van in the driveway. He left the area and when he returned later, the van was gone and the home was burglarized.

Police say the same landscaper later saw the same van near Cave Creek and Greenway roads. Photos taken by the landscaper were forwarded to police who were able to compare the photos to surveillance video of the van taken from a neighbors home. 

A few days later, the van was found by police. It had been impounded by Goodyear police in relation to another burglary in Goodyear of a house that was also listed for sale.

Police did a search warrant on Wanket's storage unit and provided photos of the items inside the unit to Scottsdale police who had the Scottsdale homeowners look through them to see if their property could be identified.

The homeowners identified over $50,000 worth of property that was stolen. 

Wanket has been arrested on ten counts of burglary and theft.