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Pair in stolen vehicle charged in Kansas crime spree

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a fire that broke out in a suburban Kansas City house after two people who lived there were arrested in a spree of car thefts and burglaries.

Emerson -photo Johnson Co.
Long -photo Johnson County

29-year-old Rita Lee Long was charged Tuesday with felony theft. Thirty-five-year-old Jason Emerson is charged with seven felonies, including burglary and theft.

Police arrested Long on Sunday afternoon in Lenexa, saying she was driving a stolen vehicle.

A male passenger who fled from her vehicle is accused of entering two occupied homes, stealing a car from the first. Police say Emerson was arrested at the second home around 2 a.m. Monday after an hours-long standoff.

Several hours later, firefighters extinguished a small fire in the basement of Long and Emerson’s home.

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