Howard County police said yesterday that they arrested an Owings Mills man for breaking into cars at The Mall in Columbia and stealing two Global Positioning System devices.

Tony Brown, 37, of the 900 block of Joshua Tree Court was taken into custody Thursday after a witness reported seeing a man break the window of a car in the mall parking lot.

Since Nov. 30, police have received 23 reports of GPS units and other property being stolen from cars at the mall.

Brown was charged with theft and destruction of property in the two cases reported Thursday, and police were continuing to investigate the other cases.

The witness in Thursday's incident provided police with a description and tag number of the man's car.

Police said they stopped the car, a Honda Accord, on Interstate 70 and saw GPS units on the front passenger seat.