Mesa police working a special enforcement detail arrested a man with a history of committing burglaries, finding freshly stolen items in his backpack.
Police came across Nikolaus Schmidt early Thursday morning while he was walking near Crismon and Baseline roads, an area where additional police were deployed because of high crime rates.
Police discovered Schmidt had a felony warrant for trespassing from Pinal County and arrested him. As police search Schmidt’s backpack, they found jewelry, an Xbox 360 game console and drug paraphernalia. A detective then questioned Schmidt about how he obtained the items, given that he has a criminal history that includes burglary, trespassing and drugs.
Schmidt lied initially but later admitted he stole the game system from a vehicle in San Tan Valley, police said. He told police the jewelry was his girlfriend’s, but police said she denied any knowledge of it. Schmidt lives in Pinal County.
Officers are searching police reports in an attempt to link the stolen items to their owner.
