Officers of the RVIPF made a notable breakthrough in their efforts to identify the culprits responsible for the recent upsurge in burglaries. Photo: VINO/File

A 17-year-old male of Road Town was charged over the weekend with four counts of burglary and will face additional burglary charges in relation to a series of break-ins during the months of September and October. His initial arrest led to a search of his mother’s premises and the recovery of a number of pieces of stolen jewelry.

The teenager appeared in Youth Court yesterday and was placed on remand.

In late September, Police had made public a dramatic rise in burglaries with multiple daytime residential break-ins mainly in the Long Bush, Lower Estate and Jose Hill areas and had warned homeowners to be vigilant in securing windows especially those out of public view. The burglaries came after a record low in most crime categories for the first and second quarter of this year.

Between January and July of this year, the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force recorded a 23 percent overall reduction in reported crime, which corresponds to 221 less victims of crime when compared to the same period in 2014.

Just over two thirds of the decrease is attributed to property related crime such as robberies, burglaries and thefts. Reported burglaries had decreased by 43%, equivalent to 57 less reports of premises being burglarised. Non-dwelling burglaries which also include businesses had decreased by 57% while dwelling burglaries decreased by 20%.