Carrollton Police say two women accused of running a months-long theft ring across three North Texas cities kept a meticulous log book of their crimes.
The pair confessed to as many as 50 car break-ins, police said, and detectives believe the pair is also responsible for breaking into storage units and homes.
Police pulled over Skylar Lampton and Erica Jo Johnson at about 4 a.m. Friday for an illegal lane change and driving with a broken tail light. Police immediately observed unusual items in plain view, including power tools, a vice grip and lock cutter, as well as heroin, meth and drug paraphernalia.
Officers arrested the women, and later found the notebook in the car where the women allegedly kept written records of their crimes. When confronted with the notebook, officers said the women quickly confessed.
"Oh, yes, that's very unique. You don't often see such meticulous record-keeping, per se. But it obviously helped our detectives, because it got these women to start talking pretty quickly," said Jolene DeVito, communications specialist for the Carrollton Police Department.
So why did the women keep such good notes of their crimes? DeVito could only venture an educated guess.
"It's hard to say. But maybe it's as simply as this was their business. And this is how they went about their business. They kept very specific records of ideas, of locations, of locations they already targeted, of where they could go next. It was quite something to see," DeVito said.
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Police said the women largely targeted targeted unlocked cars in the neighborhoods around where Johnson lived, near Keller Springs Road and Willowgate Lane.
Police said the pair confessed to as many as 50 car-break ins dating back three months, but they may be linked to more break-ins as well as thefts from storage units.
Officers think the women also stole from cars in Lewisville and Flower Mound, and now detectives are coordinating their investigations.
Police believe the women stole sporting goods equipment, power tools, dozens of wallets and purses, bikes, electronics, sunglasses and computers.
"Our detectives over the weekend drove away with at least three truckloads, U-Hauls, of stolen property from their home," DeVito said.
Officers said over the summer some of the stolen items were sold at pawn shops, but they believe the women – whom officers believe to be linked romantically – were planning an "old fashioned garage sale" to unload the stolen goods and make quick cash.
"It seems these women were so busy and so active, they may not even remember everywhere they've been and everywhere they've broken into it," DeVito said. "There's a lot of work to do; a tremendous amount of stolen property we recovered. This investigation will take a lot of time."
One of the victims, Sharee Jones, came to the Carrollton Police Department to pick up her stolen purse and Bible, after police said the women burglarized her car about two weeks ago.
"Of course you feel violated. Look in the backseat and noticed two purses were missing," Jones said. "To hear that it was two women behind this, that's definitely crazy. I'm glad that police arrested them."
Jones said she didn't think she'd ever see her Bible again. It was a gift from her Mother last Christmas with a special message inside.
"It's pretty sentimental," she said. "She wrote inside, so it's very sentimental. I'm glad to get it back."
Lampton and Johnson are now charged with drug possession and theft, but several additional charges are pending. Lampton remains in the Dallas County Jail, but Johnson bonded out Tuesday.
An NBC 5 crew was at Johnson's house Tuesday afternoon when she arrived with her mother.
Johnson did not comment. Her mother declined to do an interview but said from the driveway this was "not a news story" and asked NBC 5 to leave.
