A recent rash of unusual thefts involving thousands of dollars worth of stolen construction and landscaping tools from Island contractors ended with the arrest of three young Island men, including two juveniles, this week.

Glenn Goulart, 18, of West Tisbury and two 16-year-olds from Edgartown were arraigned separately in Edgartown district court on multiple counts of breaking and entering, larceny, malicious destruction of property and conspiracy to commit a crime. Mr. Goulart was arraigned on Monday; the two juveniles were arraigned on Tuesday.

The arrests were made by West Tisbury police in collaboration with Edgartown and Chilmark police; West Tisbury police chief Dan Rossi said this week that all three departments were involved in investigating the incidents which date back to October 2010.

The case broke on Jan. 28 when West Tisbury police officer Matthew Gebo noticed a vehicle towing a log splitter that matched the description of one reported stolen two months earlier. Officer Gebo stopped the driver of the vehicle for questioning and was told by the driver that he had recently purchased the splitter. The driver was Mr. Goulart.

After further, extensive investigation by police, including contact with the company that made the splitter, it was determined that the splitter matched the one that had been stolen. Mr. Goulart was called into West Tisbury police headquarters for questioning on Feb. 12, and he admitted to several thefts in Edgartown, West Tisbury and Chilmark, police said.

Search warrants were obtained for five different locations, where police found caches of construction tools, hand tools, marine electronics, outboard motors, fishing poles and tackle. The estimated value of the stolen equipment is over $50,000.

In addition to Officer Gebo, investigating officers in the case included Sgt. Matthew Mincone and Det. Russell Ventura.

Chief Rossi praised the collaborative effort among the three police departments that led to the arrests; he said many man hours went into the investigation. “The whole department has put time in on this. There were people from many towns working on their days off, and that’s the not-so glamorous part of police work. I can’t say enough about the officers who worked on these cases — they all should be commended,” the chief said.

He remarked that the motive in the case is a puzzle. “We don’t know why they did it — I am just glad to have the contractors and people who lost the things that they need to go to work every day on a daily basis have them back. That’s the sad part; this was very hard for the victims in this bad economy,” Mr. Rossi said.

He said he expects prosecutors will seek restitution in court for stolen equipment that was not found and returned or was damaged.