CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ten youths, including a boy as young as 12, were charged after what police are calling a citywide "spree" that involved dozens of car break-ins and thefts over the weekend.

Six of the youths were taken to the Cuyahoga County Detention Center. An 18-year-old Akron woman was arrested and taken to the county jail.

Police first responded about 7:30 a.m. Sunday to the downtown Hilton Garden Inn after receiving a report that 24 cars had been broken into, officials said. While officers were on scene, they learned of additional break-ins at two other locations -- one near Playhouse Square and another in Little Italy.

By 12:45 p.m., officers identified two previously stolen vehicles they believed were connected to the break-ins. Using the city's license plate readers -- which the department called "key" to the investigation -- police began tracking the vehicles as they moved throughout Cleveland.

Authorities ultimately traced the suspects to Columbus Road, about a block from the West Side Market, where they were accused of stealing a third car. Some of the suspects also got into a fourth stolen vehicle.

"All 10 were in stolen vehicles at one point or another," police spokesman Sgt. Wilfredo Diaz said.

Police used aircraft, detectives from all five districts, K-9 units and narcotics officers to locate the group at a vacant public housing apartment on the city's West Side.

"The suspects used the vacant apartment to conceal themselves and obstruct efforts by law enforcement to locate and apprehend them in connection with the theft, possession and destruction of multiple stolen vehicles," police said in a statement.

Officers arrested all 10 suspects and recovered three guns hidden inside the apartment by early afternoon, Diaz said.

Those arrested range in age from 12 to 18. Charges are pending and may include breaking and entering, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, grand theft of a motor vehicle and weapons violations, police said.

"It is both deeply troubling and unacceptable to see teenagers engaging in such audacious and disruptive criminal behavior," Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said in a statement. "The scale of the damage inflicted is significant, and our investigation is ongoing."

The number of victims had not been established as of Monday afternoon, as police were still investigating. Some residents took to social media Monday, saying that they were angry and upset.

Cleveland Safety Director Wayne Drummond on Monday told City Council about the arrests during a committee meeting, as members sought updates.

The arrests come amid an intensified crackdown on car break-ins in the city. Earlier this month, a special detail recovered four stolen vehicles during a weekend operation on the West Side. Last Tuesday, police arrested a 15-year-old suspected of another break-in.

Investigators are working to determine whether the 10 youths arrested Sunday are tied to earlier thefts, Diaz said.

Though the suspects were caught within hours, Diaz described the operation as "a very intense investigation" that required coordination among multiple units.

"When you have multiple car break-ins over a two- to three-week period, it's pretty substantial and we had to reevaluate strategy," Diaz said. "Is this the final piece? We don't know. But is it a big piece? Yes."

Cleveland police arrest 10 youths after citywide 'spree' of car break-ins and thefts, officials say