Police have arrested three people who they say were a sophisticated gang responsible for as many as 50 burglaries in Prince George's County since December.
At one home, police said, the "Edwards Burglary Gang" stole a safe with $69,000 in jewelry and $14,000 in cash inside, reported News4's Pat Collins.
Police said these theives planned ahead -- and knew how to sell off their loot quickly, in one case peddling flat-screen TVs from the back of an SUV.
"A sophisticated group is way more dangerous, because they have a plan," said Capt. Charles Hamby of the Prince George's Police Department. "They have a plan to dispose of the property and a plan of execution."
The Edwards Gang's plan was to target a secluded street, then walk down the street knocking on doors, police said. They were looking for unoccupied houses to hit, police told Collins.
Burglar alarms were no deterrent. Police said the burglars got in and out quickly.
The alleged burglars -- who took their name from their leader, Anthony Edwards, 40 -- favored high-value items: flat screen TVs, weapons, jewelry. In fact, the flat screens out of the back of the SUV were their undoing. An alert passer-by saw the sales, jotted down the SUV's license number and called police.
Police used search warrants and confidential informants to build the case against the Edwards Gang, Hamby said.
"This crew was not going to stop until they were taken out of action," he said.
The gang targeted homes in Oxon Hill and Fort Washington, police said. But authorities in Charles County and in Virginia want to question the trio about burglaries in those locations, too.