A Great Bend man was caught red-handed Monday for auto theft after there were reports of someone looking into cars near a local apartment complex earlier in the morning.

According to a Great Bend Police Department news release, at about 1:45 a.m. Monday, GBPD officers were dispatched to the Reserves at Trail Ridge apartments at 811 Grant Street. A witness advised dispatchers that a white male with his face covered was walking in the parking lot, looking into cars.  

They also thought he might be carrying a rifle.  

As officers approached the area, the witness reported that the man had left in a black car, the release noted. Fortunately, Officer Mason Paden was able to locate a vehicle fitting the description leaving the area, and stopped the car.  

Paden made contact with 19-year-old Bryan Navarro. “Navarro appeared extremely nervous and was unable to explain whose car he was driving or how he acquired it,” the release read. 

Further investigation revealed that Navarro had in fact stolen the vehicle from the Trail Ridge Apartments parking lot.  

Navarro was taken into custody and booked into the Barton County Jail. The vehicle was returned to the owner.