2 charged in string of car burglaries. Are Panama City cases the tip of the iceberg?

PANAMA CITY — Two Louisiana suspects are in jail after an off-duty police officer spotted them burglarizing cars in an apartment complex Monday morning, Panama City Police Department officials said.

Early Monday, the officer was heading to work from his residence off Harrison Avenue when he reportedly spotted the suspects. After the officer confronted them, the pair fled in a vehicle. The officer provided a description of the vehicle and later in the morning, Bay County Sheriff’s Office deputies spotted the vehicle at a hotel in the 1000 block of East 23rd Street.

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Panama City Police Department officers were dispatched to the hotel where the suspects, Joshua N. Jenkins, 24, and Adonis J. Pate Jr., 17, were arrested in a hotel room.

Property stolen in multiple vehicle burglaries in Panama City was in the room, as well as in a Dumpster behind the business, PCPD reported.

Jenkins and Pate were both charged with seven counts of unarmed burglary, one count of armed burglary, one count of grand theft of a firearm and one count of grand theft.

Further investigation allowed PCPD detectives to clear eight car burglary cases. In addition, detectives with the Panama City Beach Police Department, the Lynn Haven Police Department and the Springfield Police Department are investigating the two for vehicle burglaries in their jurisdictions.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call the Panama City Police Department at 850-872-3100, or report tips anonymously via smartphone by downloading the “Panama City PD” Tip411 app from the iOS or Google Play stores.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Louisiana suspects netted in string of Panama City Florida burglaries