Man wanted for questioning in local storage unit burglaries arrested in California

ASHWAUBENON, Wis. (WBAY) - A man wanted for questioning in local storage unit burglaries has been arrested in California.

Ashwaubenon Public Safety says Tyler Martinez was taken into custody in Downey, California Thursday.

Ashwaubenon Public Safety first picked up on the burglaries in its area in early January.

“That seemed to kick off a full rash of storage unit thefts across this area,” said Aaron Dufek, an Investigator with Ashwaubenon Public Safety.

The Hobart-Lawrence Police Department took reports of 13 burglaries over a three-day period in the Town of Lawrence.

In early February, Action 2 News talked to investigators about the string of burglaries. We learned nearly a dozen law enforcement agencies were working together to track down the suspect. After the report aired, Dufek said more tips came in.

On Thursday, Martinez was arrested outside Los Angeles in a stolen vehicle from Ashwaubenon.

“They stopped the vehicle Martinez was driving. He took off on foot. Downey Police Department gave chase to Martinez and ultimately took him into custody,” said Dufek.

Martinez is behind bars at the Los Angeles County Jail awaiting his arraignment for several crimes he allegedly committed in the state.

“He’ll be facing extradition back to this area once he clears the courts in California,” said Dufek.

Dufek said Martinez is facing several more charges in Brown County.

We’re also told there have been no reported storage unit burglaries since Martinez went on the run, however, investigators are not ruling out accomplices.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the Ashwaubenon Public Safety Department at (920)593-4474.

Police recommend people take these steps to protect their storage units:

• Switching padlocks with diskloks.
• Looking for storage facilities with gates, fencing, cameras and limited overnight hours.
• Making sure to keep track of inventory by either writing it down on paper, snapping a picture or taking video.

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