Oregon State Police are investigating how three men arrested on charges linked to a burglary at an Oregon Department of Transportation maintenance station in Prospect last week might be connected to other thefts and burglaries in the area.

Oregon State Police arrested three transients — Corey Michael Canty, 28; Eric Wayne Harlan, 22; and Kenneth Brian Luedtke, 27 — after finding what looked like stolen chainsaws, tools, radios and other gear at a remote campsite near River Bridge Campground.

ODOT officials reported a break-in at a maintenance shed on Mill Creek Road on Monday, Oct. 9. They suspected the crime had happened over the weekend and catalogued the theft of nearly $5,000 worth of tools, gas, cash and personal items from employees' lockers.

A Forest Service deputy found the suspicious campsite Oct. 11 after getting a report of smoke seen in an area where fires are prohibited outside the campground. Troopers and Forest Service workers set up surveillance at the camp, and Canty and Harlan drove up that evening, according to an OSP news release.

Harlan was arrested on charges of first-degree theft, second-degree burglary, second-degree criminal mischief, and a misdemeanor warrant out of Deschutes County.

Canty ran from officers but was arrested the next day at a house in Prospect. He was charged with two counts of second-degree burglary, first- and second-degree criminal mischief, second-degree theft, failure to register as a sex offender and on a warrant for probation violation. Luedtke was also arrested Oct. 12 on charges of first-degree theft, second-degree burglary and second-degree criminal mischief, and failure to register as a sex offender.

More charges are pending as investigators unravel information and evidence related to an undetermined number of other Southern Oregon-area burglaries and thefts, police said.

Investigators recovered 50 stolen items with an estimated value of nearly $5,000. The investigation continues.