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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — A 12-year-old and a 20-year-old are behind bars after police say they caught them red- handed with $50,000 worth of coins and electronic equipment that they stole from a house.

Officers say this new case involved skaters at a local skate park and it could help them on some other burglaries in the area.

On Sunday, a homeowner came home and discovered someone had broken in through a window, according to Cottonwood Heights Police.

“It was like they hit the jackpot,” said Cottonwood Heights Police Sgt. Corbett Ford. “You have a homeowner that had an estimated $50,000 in gold and silver coins, electronic equipment, a laptop and a cellphone."

Police found the stolen items with the suspected burglars a few blocks away. One of the accused thieves is a 12- year-old in the Salt Lake Valley detention center. A 20- year-old was also arrested.

Police said they don't think it's an organized group behind the burglaries but say those involved know each other from the skate park: “These were people we definitely were aware of and it's not their first involvement with law enforcement,” Ford said.

But skaters who use the park say they're getting an unfair reputation.

Just because we skate together doesn't mean we commit crimes together. –Unidentified skater

“Just because we skate together doesn't mean we commit crimes together," said one unidentified skater. "And just because we all hang out here doesn't mean we're all hoodlums and committing crimes.”

“Kids up here are good. We've been skating here since we were little,” said another unidentified skater at the park. “All the kids that have been involved have been skating here since they were really little so I don't know, it's not a bad place. Just bad incidents have happened.”

Officers said they plan on talking with the suspects about other burglary cases.

One of those cases involves a stolen handgun used in the fatal shooting of a fellow skater and Brighton High student Harley Jarrett. Police have not officially said the two cases are related but do acknowledge the skaters knew each other.

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