All of the fire equipment stolen from Coolspring Township Fire Department in LaPorte County last week was found and returned to the department after a man was arrested following a separate burglary in St. Joseph County early Monday morning, July 6.

New Carlisle and St. Joseph County police were called to a burglary at about 1:30 a.m. Monday at a metal recycling plant on Smilax Road and found a suspect who was wearing fire gear, according to a news release from the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office.

A New Carlisle officer familiar with the Coolspring theft notified the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s detectives interviewed the suspect and then secured a search warrant for the suspect’s home at the Green Acres Mobile Home Park near Michigan City.

Police found the rest of the stolen equipment inside the suspect’s home and in a shed on the property, according to the news release. All of the equipment was documented, inventoried, photographed and then returned to the Coolspring Township Fire Department.

The suspect is being held at the St. Joseph County Jail and has not been identified by police.