Police took one teenager into custody but are still searching for more suspects after a string of thefts and robberies played out over the course of several hours south of downtown Wednesday night, authorities said.
The series of reported robberies started shortly before 6 p.m. near Ninth and A streets, where a 58-year-old man told police he was cleaning out his car when two men approached him and demanded his keys — but didn't take his car, Lincoln Police Capt. Todd Kocian said.
The two men then fled west on A Street in a white Kia Sportage, Kocian said.
Hours later, at just after 10 p.m., a 24-year-old man called police and reported that he was sitting in the back of his pickup bed near 16th and D streets when a white Kia Sportage pulled beside him as three men approached him, Kocian said.
The 24-year-old told police that one of the men hit him in the face before taking his keys, again leaving behind the truck. The man reported the Kia's license plate number to police, who determined the SUV had been stolen in Omaha, Kocian said.
About an hour later, at 11:19 p.m., police were called back to 16th and D streets, where a 36-year-old man said he was sitting on the steps outside his home when a man approached him and asked him what was in his pockets before hitting him and stealing his cellphone, he told police.
The 36-year-old said the man who robbed him left the area in a Pontiac Grand Prix, which he said was accompanied by a white SUV.
Two minutes later, police received a belated call from 16th and D streets, where the 24-year-old man who had previously reported being robbed of his keys said the men had returned and stolen his wife's Pontiac Grand Prix, Kocian said.
Another hour went by before residents near 41st and N streets called police and reported three vehicles were speeding through the area and one had crashed into another, Kocian said.
Police found a 2003 Hyundai Sonata, which was stolen minutes before from an address two blocks away, parked in the area with a 15-year-old boy inside, Kocian said.
Officers also found the Grand Prix, stolen an hour beforehand from 16th and D streets.
Police referred the 15-year-old to the Lancaster County Attorney's Office on suspicion of felony theft by receiving stolen property.
Kocian said authorities are still searching for the stolen Kia Sportage — and the people suspected of stealing it.