Two strings of unrelated burglaries came to a close last week within 24 hours of each other after the arrest of two men in Mower County and one man in Freeborn County.

Authorities believe the two men in Mower County, Justin Roberts and Lee Huston, both 19, were involved with a string of burglaries that included several towns in both Minnesota and Iowa.

The burglaries were in seven Minnesota towns and six other towns in Iowa. The sites included Kiester, Ellendale, Wells, New Richland, Luverne, Waldorf, St. Clair in Minnesota and wood, Forest City, Lime Springs, Garner, Lake Mills and several little towns in Worth County, Iowa, according to authorities. Items taken in the burglaries included cash, cigarettes, DVDs and in one and in one case tires. All the sites were businesses.

Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office detective Scott Golbuff said there was a burglary at the Clarks Grove Hardware store that is also suspected to have originated from Roberts and Huston.

They were arrested outside Corky’s Corner in Adams in the early morning hours last Tuesday by Mower County sheriff’s deputy Sgt. Jeff Ellis.

According to police, Ellis was responding a house fire in LeRoy when Roberts and Huston, riding in a silver car, approached Ellis and asked for directions to Rochester, telling him they were lost.

Ellis gave them directions.

Later in the night after responding to a medical call, Ellis drove into Adams where he observed the same vehicle parked outside of Corky’s with the hood up and trunk and driver’s side door opened.

Ellis stopped, asked the men why they were in Adams and was told that they were lost again and that a belt on their car came off.

Ellis observed a pry bar on the ground and questioned the men, finding that their stories didn’t match. After a search of the vehicle, he found cigarettes and DVDs in the trunk.

The two men were then taken into custody.

They have not yet been charged in either Mower or Freeborn county.

In a separate case last week, the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office arrested Maurice Golson in connection with two residential burglaries in the county, one near Hartland and one near Newry Township outside of Hollandale, Golbuff said. Both of those burglaries took place the same day as the arrest.

Golbuff said there are other burglaries that have taken place recently in Freeborn County that are still under investigation.

He wanted to reassure people that these incidents were not violent crimes, as there have been no injuries or assaults associated with them. Typically, no one was home at the time of the break-in, he said.

If people do see a suspicious person or automobile, they can contact the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office.

— Staff writer Eric Johnson contributed to this report.