By Joe Johnson
Four teenagers were arrested Wednesday night after they were caught breaking into a house on Magnolia Street on the west side of town, Athens-Clarke County police said.
The teens ranged in age from 14 to 17, with the oldest being charged as an adult, according to police.
The incident occurred at about 7:44 p.m., when a 17-year-old resident who was home alone saw on a doorbell camera the images of four males four males walk onto his porch and sit down, according to police. After a short while the males walked around the side of the house, and a man who lived in a shed on the property saw the males take down a window screen and then break the window glass, police said.
The would-be burglars ran off when the man in the shed reportedly told them, “I see you.”
In the meantime, the teenage resident had called 911, and officers made contact with four males fitting the suspects' descriptions at South Billups and Waddell streets.
They were positively identified from the doorbell camera’s video footage, police said.
Jaden Makale Appling, 17, of Hickman Drive was charged with first degree burglary and taken to the county jail.
The state Department of Juvenile Justice instructed police to release two of the younger suspects into the custody of their parents or guardians and transport the fourth teen to the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center.
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