GOUVERNEUR — Richard L. Cyrus didn’t mind small change.

In fact, village police said, the Gouverneur man stole a broad selection of items from more than 20 vehicles, ranging from a coin purse to electronic devices and a double-barrel shotgun.

Mr. Cyrus, 20, of 90 W. Main St., Apt. 6, was arrested Monday in connection with a string of vehicle burglaries Sunday night and Monday morning, said village Police Officer Jason D. Whitton.

Mr. Whitton said many of the thefts weren’t literally break-ins because “the bulk of them were unlocked.”

“Lock your cars,” was the officer’s advice to the public. “And don’t leave valuables in them.”

Mr. Whitton said Mr. Cyrus had been living a partly “nomadic” lifestyle, but a search of the apartment where he had been staying also turned up a debit card, mobile phones, an MP3 player and a navigation device. While the amount of change wasn’t immediately available Tuesday, Mr. Whitton said the value of the recovered goods may have been about $500 and other items could still be missing.

Mr. Cyrus was charged with two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony, and three counts of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a class A misdemeanor.

He was arraigned before Gouverneur Town Justice Stanley H. Young and committed to the St. Lawrence County jail, Canton, in lieu of $5,000 bail or $10,000 bond. He is to appear in Town Court to answer the charges.

The investigation continues, Mr. Whitton said, and more arrests are pending, although he declined to say whether that meant additional charges against Mr. Cyrus or whether police are looking at other suspects.

Monday’s case is not Mr. Cyrus’s first theft arrest.

In April 2011, he was arrested in connection with the theft of 600 to 700 pounds of copper from Iron Man Scrap Yard on Quarry Road.

Gouverneur Town Court officials on Tuesday said Mr. Cyrus had been granted youthful offender status in the 2011 case and further information about that proceeding was unavailable.

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