A Jackson Township man who Valparaiso Police said has admitted to committing 13 burglaries—including two in the Chesterton area and a string of eight in Valparaiso—has been arrested and charged.

Joseph DeMoss, 19, of 848N 500E, was taken into custody at 4:15 p.m. Monday at his home, police said. He was charged with two counts of burglary, a Class C felony punishable by a term of two to eight years.

A Valparaiso man who the VPD said was DeMoss’ accomplice in multiple burglaries in Valparaiso and one in Portage, John Tener, 47, of 908 N. Washington St., was taken into custody at 4:20 p.m. Friday and also charged with two counts of burglary.

According to the VPD, the break in the case came after investigators viewed a surveillance tape shot at a Portage jewelry store, which showed a suspect’s unmasked face. A different tape, shot by a neighboring business, caught an image of a possible suspect vehicle leaving the scene, police said.

Investigators subsequently identified and located the suspect as Tener, who in an interview with Det. Lt. John Ross and Det. Sgt. Jeff Balon admitting committing or attempting to commit eight burglaries in Valparaiso and one in Portage.

“Police were able to locate and recover numerous items taken in the burglaries,” police said. “Much of the property was located inside a new tattoo business that Tener was attempting to open.”

Tener has been linked to separate burglaries of AmeriPawn and to those of Culture Shock Tattoo, Quinlan & Fabish Music Company, Discoteca Morelia, Sacred Chao Tattoos, and to two attempted burglaries, of Orthodontics Inc. and Pediatric Dentistry, police said.

DeMoss, for his part, admitted to his participation in the eight burglaries in Valparaiso, the one in Portage, to two business burglaries in the Trail Creek area of LaPorte County, and to two residential burglaries in the Chesterton area, police said.

The VPD has notified the law enforcement agencies in those other jurisdictions.