Tracks in snow lead Nampa police to 15-year-old accused of breaking into cars

Nampa police officers located a stolen car Monday morning in a neighborhood near the intersection of 12th and Florida avenues.

Police followed tracks leading from the stolen car to a nearby apartment complex, where the 15-year-old boy was found hiding in an attic crawlspace.

Officers interviewed and then arrested the boy on a probation violation and a charge of being a runaway. He remains in custody but has not yet been charged with any car burglary, car theft or arson crimes, according to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.

The teenager, who was reported as a runaway in November, is accused of breaking into unlocked cars and stealing a handful of vehicles from across the Treasure Valley last month, including two from Kuna.

Nampa police also recovered one of three guns they suspect the boy took from unlocked cars in Kuna on Dec. 26.

The 15-year-old boy is a suspect in car burglaries and car thefts in Kuna, Star, Nampa and Homedale.

Two of the vehicles reported stolen in Kuna — a Toyota 4Runner on Dec. 26 and a Ford Mustang on Dec. 30 — were driven to Nampa, abandoned and set on fire.

Anyone with information should call Kuna Police at 577-3860.

This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Tracks in snow lead Nampa police to 15-year-old accused of breaking into cars."