Burglary suspects caught 'blue handed' in Tulare County

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A generator equipped with a GPS tracking device and a liquid meant to turn hands blue when touched led to the arrest of three people in Tulare County.

After a string of burglaries at a home in the 600 block of East Citrus Avenue in Lindsay, the Tulare County Sheriff's Office Ag Unit left the bait generator on the property.

Deputies coated the generator with SmartWater, an invisible, odorless, and traceable liquid that turns blue under UV light.

On Sunday just before 2 a.m., the GPS alerted deputies that the generator was on the move.

Deputies caught up with the suspects on Pioneer Avenue in Porterville.

SmartWater was found on the hands of three people. The suspects were arrested and will face charges of burglary, grand theft, and conspiracy to commit a crime.