Columbia, S.C. — A teenager has confessed to breaking into 18 homes in Columbia neighborhoods since summer, police said Tuesday.
Donquiese Green, 16, is being charged as a adult because the offenses carry at least 15-year prison terms and Green already was on probation for a similar crime as a juvenile, prosecutors said.
"He is legally considered an adult due to the nature of the offenses," 5th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Dolly Garfield said.
So far, Green is charged with two counts of second-degree burglary and one of first-degree burglary in connection with break-ins on Hillcrest and Kiawah avenues and Grand Court, police said. A conviction of first-degree burglary carries up to life in prison.
A list of the 18 homes was not available Tuesday afternoon, police spokesman Brick Lewis said. Most of the burglaries happened downtown and several miles south and north of downtown.
Green was in the Richland County jail's juvenile wing Tuesday, Lewis said.
Detectives think Green acted alone, Lewis said,
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