A City of Redding employee helped identify two suspected car thieves Wednesday morning in Downtown Redding, according to Redding Police. Glen Pine was at the downtown parking structure about 8:30AM and he noticed a man and a woman who were loitering nearby and allegedly looking into parked vehicles near the Shasta College Campus. Pine said that the woman had a portable speaker that was playing load music while the man was looking into parked vehicles. He believed that the music was being used as a distraction to mask the mans efforts to break into vehicles. Pine said that the man gained access to a vehicle and shortly after the suspects fled on foot down an alley after they noticed they were being watched. Officers arrived a short time later and began looking for the suspected thieves. Officer Ellis found 40-year-old Jeremy Dutcher and 19-year-old Harley Schwartzengraber in an alley behind Hinkle’s Market. Both were detained and Officer Ellis reported finding a purse that belonged to 20-year-old Casey Klein. The purse was apparently taken from Klein’s car, after one of the suspects allegedly broke a window. Both suspects apparently admitted to being in the area but denied being the thieves. A search reportedly found heroin and drug paraphernalia. Both allegedly admitted that they were addicted to heroin. Dutcher and Schwartzengraber were booked into Shasta County Jail.
