[B]urlington Police arrested two men Thursday as suspects in connection to a slew of cases of stealing and identity theft over the past weeks in several Chittenden County locations.
Tyler J. Sears, 28, a transient, and Eric Breeyear, 36, of Burlington, were identified by police as the perpetrators in the incidents that included using credit cards, several stolen from vehicles in Burlington. Sears is also suspected of car theft.
Police reportedly “untangled a number of offenses and separate cases” on the University of Vermont campus, in South Burlington and in Colchester, to make the arrests, according to a press release from the BPD.
Burlington Police Cpl. Michael Henry connected the dots in the case and was able to link a Walgreens receipt found in the recovered car to purchases allegedly made by Sears, and “thereby connect the stolen car to the stolen wallet and credit cards from the Colchester case,” according to the press release. Those credit cards, police said, were the cards in Breeyear’s possession at the time of his arrest.
The Toyota was reported stolen from a Burlington driveway on July 10, and later found at a residence on Pearl Street, according to police. The vehicle showed damage that wasn’t there prior to being stolen, police said. Later that day, police saw Sears with a Toyota key fob, which he told police belonged to Breeyear, who Sears said was staying at a residence on Pearl Street.
Police overseeing an eviction on Pearl Street on July 11 identified Breeyear, who was found to be in possession of credit cards not in his name. He was arrested and taken into police custody, according to the press release.
Later that day, staff at the McKenzie House Apartments on Elmwood Avenue in Burlington called to report a transient, who police identified as Sears, sleeping on their lawn. He was brought into police custody at that time.
Breeyear is suspected of stealing credit cards of three people from two vehicles and using them for purchases at Price Chopper in South Burlington and Market 32 in Burlington. Police identified Breeyear as the suspect through store security camera footage.
Sears is accused of similar crimes, stealing cards from cars in Burlington for purchases at Price Chopper, Dunkin Donuts and Walgreens around Burlington and Colchester and attempting to use a stolen debit card at Market 32 on Shelburne Road in Burlington.
Sears was charged with grand larceny, two counts of possession of stolen property, identity theft, false pretense, larceny and unlawful mischief. Breeyear was charged with three counts of identity theft, three counts of larceny, three counts of false pretense, and possession of stolen property.
Burlington Deputy Police Chief Jon Murad said he “couldn’t say enough” about the good police work in this case.
“Individually, these crimes may appear small, but cumulatively they form a much larger pattern of criminality,” Murad said in a statement. “Moreover, for our neighbors these kinds of crimes aren’t small at all — they represent a loss of property and money, and the hassle of dealing with credit card companies and banks to address identity theft and fraudulent charges.”
