Reservation sees series of thefts
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LAKE COUNTY - According to Lake County Undersheriff Dan Yonkin, Lake County has seen more than three thefts in the past two months in which firearms were taken, and several more dating back to November 2012. He has reason to believe the thefts are related and said, “It is likely that there is a connection between them.”
In addition to weapons, the thieves also stole personal electronic equipment like laptops, televisions and ipods.
“In these recent cases, there's been a mix of forced entry and (not forced) because people leave the door unlocked,” Yonkin said.
Law enforcement has recovered some of the stolen items.
Two weeks ago, Yonkin and the Lake County Drug Task Force served a drug-related warrant on a residence in the Pablo-Ronan area.
“Drug agents were searching the residence and they came upon some stolen property. We went back, got a second search warrant, went back to the property and seized tools, electronic items and firearms,” Yonkin said.
More stolen firearms were recovered when an individual who had just bought a firearm in a private-party sale called the sheriff's office to determine if it was stolen. It turned out the weapon was stolen in one of the recent burglaries.
In addition, some guns reported stolen in Lake County during one of the recent thefts turned up during a routine traffic stop in Nevada.
“I don't know how many they still have in custody (in Nevada,) so I can't speak to that,” Yonkin said. “For the most part, it's safe to say that the folks responsible for taking these items are still at large.”
Yonkin confirmed at least 16 stolen firearms “and counting.” He believes a couple dozen stolen firearms would be a conservative estimate.
“This isn't one person. There might be several people involved in the actual break-ins and the theft of the property, but collectively, there's more than one person involved,” Yonkin said. “As far as it being related to an organized crime ring, I would say no more than we typically see when criminals are at work. There's usually some sort of a driving force behind it, and typically that's drugs. The folks involved will often be more than one person, in that someone has the drugs and someone is trading the property, (and) someone is moving somewhere to sell it.”
Criminals moving stolen property out of state is likely a result of local pawn shops (a means for criminals to sell stolen property) reporting to law enforcement when they purchase weapons. If the thieves know they'll be caught if they sell the stolen goods locally, they have no choice but to sell the contraband elsewhere, Yonkin explained.
“Moving those items out of state is typically the way a lot of that stuff gets disposed of anymore,” he said. “Either that or they are sold or traded directly for drugs.”
Yonkin said these crimes are not normally committed by just one person, and while the thieves are organized to a degree, they are not “mafia,” by any means.
“They are organized as far as stealing stuff and knowing where to get rid of it,” he said. “They're organized to that level, but as far as it being the mafia, it's not like that.”
In most cases, the victim was either clearly not home at the time of the burglary or had left some sort of indication that there would not be anyone home at the residence. Yonkin said most break-ins occur at a residence where there is no car in the driveway or no activity in the house, “especially with snow on the ground and (the thieves) can see no tracks.”
However, this isn't always the case. Two weeks ago, a homeowner on Mountain View Road in Polson's Jette Hill area returned home midway through a burglary and scared the thieves away.
Yonkin advises residents planning to be gone for any length of time to tell a trusted neighbor or friend the hours they will not be home.
“I suggest people be more vigilant in marking non-serial number items and recording serial numbers of high-ticket items,” he said. “So often, we have crimes committed with thousands of dollars of items taken, and even though we might know it's stolen, it's not an easy process when there's no serial number or some sort of identifying marker.”
