Three suspects in a series of burglaries in East Leake were arrested after a stolen vehicle was recovered.
The Vauxhall Corsa in question was spotted by police within a few hours of it being taken during a car key burglary.
That offence happened at some point in the early hours of Saturday morning (16 May), when a home in Castle Hill was targeted.
The property was found to have been ransacked when the owners woke up, with a phone, watch, clothes and bank cards all taken.
Car keys were also stolen by intruders during the incident and then used to unlock and steal the Vauxhall Corsa parked outside the house.
The break-in was only reported to police at around 7:50 am, by which time officers had also been made aware of three other incidents in the East Leake area.
Two homes in Rempstone Road were targeted at around 2.15 am, with intruders fleeing empty-handed after being disturbed during one break-in, before then trying a door handle at a neighbouring property too.
Reports also came in a few minutes earlier, at around 1.55 am, of an unsuccessful attempt to force open a door at a house in Rope Walk.
Having opened investigations into each offence and established that they could be linked, Nottinghamshire Police was made aware that same afternoon (16 May) that the stolen Corsa had been sighted in the South Yorkshire area.
South Yorkshire officers duly recovered the car after it was abandoned, before managing to locate three suspects hiding nearby.
Two girls, aged 14 and 15, and a 14-year-old boy were all arrested on suspicion of two counts of burglary and two counts of attempted burglary.
Detective Constable Alexander Tennant, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“This was a great example of two neighbouring police forces working in tandem to secure a positive result.
“Having received four reports of burglaries and attempted burglaries in East Leake during the early hours of that morning, we were able to establish a theory that they could all be linked.
“One of the properties targeted was ransacked and had numerous items stolen, including keys to a vehicle that was subsequently unlocked and driven away.
“As this particular offence showed, burglary is an incredibly invasive crime that can cause real upset, so we were pleased to be able to recover the victim’s car as quickly as we did.
“That was aided by our colleagues in South Yorkshire, who located the vehicle and, guided by information we had gathered as part of our inquiries, managed to arrest three suspects too.”
