Orange County Sheriff's Office Details String of Break-Ins, Larceny Charges Against 2 Teenagers

After a string of vehicle break-ins and thefts across two nights in November, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office formally announced criminal charges against a pair of 18-year-olds on Tuesday.

A release from the office said two young men from Durham — 18-year-old Jostin Josue Ramirez-Duarte, and another 18-year-old who was a juvenile at the time of the crimes — are in custody and face more than two dozen felony charges after committing crimes in neighboring communities off U.S. Highway 70 and east of Hillsborough town limits. Orange County investigators said the pair went to homes along Red Hill Lane and Seven Springs Road during the early morning hours of both Friday, Nov. 21 and Saturday, Nov. 22 and entered unlocked vehicles to steal items. Among the things reported missing: a firearm, $600 cash, purses, keys, tools, garage door openers and one vehicle itself, which Durham law enforcement recovered unoccupied after a crash on the afternoon of Nov. 21.

The sheriff’s office said following the break-ins, deputies canvassed the two neighborhoods to ask residents if they saw or heard anything — often leading to people checking their vehicles and realizing items were missing. Tuesday’s release detailed their investigation, saying evidence from the wrecked vehicle in Durham and footage from home security systems in the Orange County neighborhoods helped the sheriff’s office “piece together the pair’s movements” and later their identities.

Deputies served warrants to one of the two suspects on Sunday, with Tuesday’s alert saying he is being held at the Orange County Detention Center under no bond. A 2019 North Carolina law limits how juveniles are tried as adults in the state, meaning 17-year-olds who commit crimes are not automatically charged as adults and their names are not publicly shared when charged. Meanwhile, Ramirez-Duarte is currently in the Chatham County Detention Center for unrelated crimes and Orange County deputies will serve his warrants shortly, according to the sheriff’s office.

The two suspects’ full list of charges includes:

22 counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle
Larceny of a motor vehicle
Larceny of a firearm
First-degree burglary to a residence
Attempted first-degree residential burglary
Three counts of breaking and entering sheds and other outbuildings
Misdemeanor attempted break-in to a vehicle
Misdemeanor larceny

With Tuesday’s alert about the case, Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said he “cannot stress enough” how people ought to remove valuables from their vehicles and always lock your car doors when leaving it unattended.

“I’ve heard some say they do not lock their doors because they do not want a thief to have a reason to break the windows,” said Blackwood. “Personally, I believe making it easy for others to steal your belongings is just a different costly risk, one that is even greater for those who carry weapons in their vehicles.”

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office indicated its investigation into the string of break-ins and thefts is ongoing, and asked anyone who may have additional information to call the lead investigator Sergeant K. Goodwin at 919-245-2918.

Featured photo via the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

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Orange County Sheriff’s Office Details String of Break-Ins, Larceny Charges Against 2 Teenagers

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