Police recover massive amounts of stolen items from 20 garage burglaries

Two men arrested Sunday, confessed to break-ins.

If you’ve had your garage broken into in the last five weeks, police could have your stolen items.

After an arrest Sunday of two men, police discovered massive amounts of power tools, hunting equipment and other items that have been stolen from garages in La Crosse – four trucks and a couple vans full of items were recovered. Police have compiled around 20 cases of garages being broken into the last five weeks.

Sunday afternoon, a call came into police of a homeowner chasing off two men who had been attempting a garage burglary on 22nd St.

The men took off in a red Pontiac Sunbird convertible that police had no trouble spotting not long afterward.

Police first caught 24-year-old Matthew Smith (right, below), who eventually admitted to breaking into a around five garages.

Next, police found 26-year-old Josh Doering, who first said Smith had taken his car, but eventually confessed to the same burglaries as Smith.

Upon searching their residence, police found all kinds of stolen items and are getting prepared to help homeowners come identify what they had taken.