Three Covington Police officers rang in the New Year right, using their fast thinking to not only arrest three teens for burglary, but to also recover the stolen merchandise.

Around 1 a.m. on New Year's Day, a call come into dispatch from a person who said he saw several teens walking down Old Atlanta Highway and one had what appeared to be a rifle sticking out of his backpack.

When CPD Officer Kara Hipps arrived she noticed three teens walking down Old Atlanta toward Emory Street, two pushing bicycles and one a motorcycle, according to Capt. Ken Malcom. When the three saw Hipps they reportedly dropped the items and ran in different directions. Officers took the motorcycle, bicycles, rifle (which turned out to be a Crossman BB gun) and bullets into evidence.

Later that morning, officers learned that Spend Thrift Pawn on Emory Street had been burglarized. Among the items stolen were the motorcycle and BB gun, as well as a .38 Special and an antique wooden gun. At the back door of the store another bicycle was found that had been left behind.

A video from the store showed three males inside. Officer Hayward DeRouen recognized one of the three, according to Malcom. He was located later that night, along with the other two who allegedly confessed to DeRouen and Detective Jeff Bruno that they had committed the burglary. Not only were the items taken from the pawn shop recovered, so were many others that had been taken in other burglaries in the Oxford area.

The three teens, 17-year-old Jeremy Howard, 17-year-old Eric Leonard Dawson and a 16-year-old male were charged with burglary.

"Officer Hipps, DeRouen and Detective Bruno all did an outstanding job on solving this case," said Malcom.