KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – An increased commitment by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office already has produced results following the arrest of two teens suspected of a rash of car thefts in the Highridge Estates area.

Sheriff Michelle Cook said the boys, ages 14 and 16, have been charged with 11 counts of burglary, 10 counts of armed burglary and two counts of grand theft after a deputy stopped them while he was investigating the break-ins. One of the teens had a handgun taken from one of the cars in his waistband.

Seven cases were cleared after the teens confessed to the break-ins, Cook said. She also said the number of cases involve 23 individual victims.

None of the cars were locked.

“I also want to remind everybody that lock your doors,” Cook said. “You know, all of these burglaries happened to unsecured cars. So we're serious when we say ‘lock lock’ your cars.”

The arrests came as CCSO has assigned more deputies to the city and as it re-opens its substation at City Hall.

“I want to let everybody know about an initiative we've been working out here in Keystone as well,” Cook said Friday morning. “It started in late May, and we assigned additional resources out here to the Keystone Heights area. With the additional resources that were out here, those law enforcement deputies made over 100 traffic stops over 20 arrests, including 10 felonies, and they made over 175 business and citizen contacts. I think many of you saw them out here when they were out here riding the police bicycles in the Keystone Heights area. We're going to be continuing those efforts out here in Keystone, at least through the end of the summer.”

Additional patrols mean deputies will be able to respond more quickly to calls, county commissioner Betsy Condon said. But she said it’s important to call 9-1-1 or the agency’s non-emergency number at (904) 264-6512 and not post crimes on social media.

“A lot of times, on social media it's a great place to share information and stories,” Condon said. “We all like to read it to know what's going on in our community, but one of the biggest things that you can do to help us is make sure that you are reporting all of these crimes to the sheriff's office.”