GLENDALE, AZ — Police arrested a Phoenix man for stealing tens of thousands of dollars' worth of items from a Glendale home in November. His mode of transportation to get there? A paddle boat.
That case then led investigators to find multiple stolen vehicles from across the Valley.
A detective with the Glendale Police Department said Michael Bergstrom targeted a neighborhood off 59th Avenue just north of the Loop 101.
Police said he stole a paddle boat from one house before traveling around the neighborhood lake to get into the backyard of his targeted home.
"It was listed for sale, but all the victim's personal items were still inside,” Detective Francisco Millanes said. “We had video of him scoping out the house first.”
Court documents said he took more than $20,000 worth of items from that home. Security cameras caught Bergstrom on video before he cut power to the home.
“Luckily, this victim did everything right. Their house was locked up, they had residential or surveillance cameras. It seems like they know their neighbors, which we always recommend,” Millanes said.
Police used the surveillance footage and their real-time crime center to track Bergstrom and arrest him at his Phoenix home. There, they found evidence of many other crimes.
“We found five different types of stolen vehicles in the backyard, all taken from different residential burglaries, which included a jet ski, trailer and multiple dirt bikes,” Millanes said.
