An arrest has been made in connection to the string of burglaries that resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars of property and cash from five Kingsburg churches, the senior center, and several residences throughout the month of December.

One juvenile suspect was arrested on Wednesday night and charged with possession of stolen property and giving false information to a police officer. The 16-year-old is currently in custody at the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Center.

Police do not release names of minors taken into custody.

Although only one arrest has been made, police are confident it is only the first of several.

"We are expecting to make some other arrests," said Police Chief Jeff Dunn. "We do know we are dealing with multiple suspects."

Detective Scott Boland said he is not sure at this point if all the suspects are minors, and said they could range in age from 15 to 20.

Church leaders could not be reached for immediate comment late Thursday afternoon. However, Dunn said that several of them had come into the station and were pleased with the arrest.

The burglaries began on Dec. 6, with Holy Family Church, followed by the senior center on Dec. 12.

Assembly of God, Community Church, and Church of the Nazarene were burglarized and vandalized over the weekend of Dec. 15, and Mennonite Brethren Church fell victim to burglars a few days later. Three Kingsburg residences also were reported burglarized in the days leading up to Christmas.

Police spent much of the day Thursday going through items that were recovered from the residence of the juvenile who was taken into custody. According to police, items from most of the churches were found, some of which still needed to be identified by church staff.

Some of the inventory included several robes from Holy Family Church, a money box from Community Church, wireless headsets, computer accessories, and numerous keys. Four microphones and two bank bags stolen from the senior center were amongst the items.

A recovered coin collection led police to conclude that the residential burglaries were committed by the same suspects who went to the churches.

"We are very confident that the church burglaries are all related and we do believe the residential burglaries are related to the church burglaries," Dunn said.

A professional lock pick, several Zippo lighters and a leather whip were also confiscated.

Because the investigation is ongoing, police would not yet verify whether the suspect they have in custody is a Kingsburg High School student.

"We're dealing with kids from the city and out in the county," Dunn said.

Many items that were taken from the five churches are still missing, and Dunn said it is unlikely that everything will be recovered.

The police are asking anyone with information that could assist their investigation to contact them at 897-2993.

"There are still people in the community that know something," Dunn said. "We don't have all the answers yet, and there's a lot of work still to be done on this case."