NORTH ANDOVER — A routine traffic stop led to the arrest of three men who have been linked to numerous car break-ins in the area and New Hampshire.
Reserve officer Jason Wedge pulled over a driver Thursday for equipment violations on his vehicle. When he went to the car he noticed there were several Global Positioning Systems, iPods and cell phones in the car.
"A number of items throughout the vehicle were later identified as being stolen," said Detective Daniel Cronin, who was called to the arrest along with Detective Thomas Donovan.
Jared Ardizzone, 23, of 2 K St. in Hampton, N.H., Nicholas Ardizzone, 19, of 329 Liberty Hill Road in Bedford, N.H., and Christopher Hamilton, 18, of 10 Briarwood Court in North Andover were charged with receiving stolen property and possession of prescription drugs.
The detectives started tracking down owners of the stolen items by checking serial numbers and checking with Apple Inc., the makers of iPods, to see if any of the portable musical players had been registered. Some items matched a recent theft at North Andover Mall. Cronin said the serial number of one GPS was specifically linked to a car break-in in Hampton, N.H. Other items remain unclaimed.
"It's difficult because we do come across a lot of stolen property, but a lot of items we can't trace back to their owners," Cronin said.
He encouraged people to keep track of serial numbers on items, take pictures and register iPods with Apple Inc.
