Police officers are investigating a string of break-ins on Friday night outside of a concert at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh. At least one person is in custody connected to these break-ins, according to police.
The Raleigh Police Department said 12 cars were broken into while people were attending the NBA Youngboy concert at the Lenovo Center.
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Police said some of the cars had broken windows. The concert had a no-bag policy and several fans arrived at the venue early to beat the traffic surrounding the concert and the North Carolina State Fair.
Raleigh police officers identified Dontarius Marquise Barrett as a suspect in one of the break-ins and arrested him. He was charged with possession with intent to sell marijuana, possession of a stolen firearm, breaking and entering into a motor vehicle with theft and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Barrett is in jail under $35,000 bond. He is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Police said it's possible they would receive more reports of break-ins from Friday night, as they said many people left the venue before calling to file a police report.
Police said they had three ATVs roaming the parking lots, along with four electric motorcycles and three e-bike officers. Police on Saturday said most of the break-ins happened at parking lots around the Lenovo Center, with a majority of them off-site.
While police said they aren't increasing patrols for Saturday's Tate McRae concert, they say they feel they are prepared for more potential break-ins during the concert.
"We do the best we can to prevent break-ins during each event," said Raleigh Police Major Peter Manukas. "At the same time, we have the state fair going on, so we have 40,000-50,000 people that are in a 10-block radius right now, so it's a criminal's opportunity."
Police said they aren’t sure what was taken, but they are investigating. Police reiterated that no valuable items should be left in your car when heading to a large event on the weekend, even if they're not visible.
