MONROE — A Monroe man was arrested for burglary and other charges after a resident caught him running out of a garage around 3 a.m. Sat-urday and called 911, accor-ding to police.

Jaron D. Neuenschwander-Luebke, 26, was jailed on tentative charges of burglary, trespassing, prowling, criminal damage to property and several counts of theft.

Officers were dispatched at 3:07 a.m. Saturday, April 6, for a report of a person entering a residential garage in the 2300 block of 11th Avenue and attempting to steal a pickup truck before fleeing.

“The resident of the house was up during the night and happened to hear something. When he went out to investigate, he saw the guy running out the garage door and up the street,” said Capt. Jerry Dahlen.

The resident also reported seeing a suspicious light in a garage across the street.

“Two garages we know of were entered,” Dahlen said.

Officers happened to be in the neighborhood and quickly located and identified Neuenschwander-Luebke as the suspect. He is also suspected of rifling through unlocked vehicles parked in driveways and along the street in the area. 

“One of the officers actually found Jaron in the process of rifling through (a vehicle),” Dahlen said.

Neuenschwander-Luebke was looking for loose change and money, Dahlen said. A stolen GPS unit found lying in the street was recovered undamaged and returned to its owner.

On Monday, the police department issued a reminder to residents to always lock their vehicles. All of the vehicles Neuenschwander-Luebke allegedly entered were unlocked, Dahlen said.

State court records show Neuenschwander-Luebke has convictions of domestic abuse-related disorderly conduct, theft, criminal damage to property and trespassing. He is currently facing felony charges in Richland County of causing great bodily harm while driving with a revoked license, related to a head-on crash near Richland Center in January that injured a couple and their four children.