Central Michigan Life » breaking and entering

Three men arrested for break-ins throughout area

Emily Grove — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:52:53 +0000

Three suspects have been arrested for stealing numerous items during a string of breaking and entering occurrences throughout Isabella and Clare counties.

Chad Steven Rodriguez, a 33-year-old from Weidman, Ronald Raymond Pingilley, a 48-year-old from Mount Pleasant and Robert Lyle Keller Jr., a 19-year-old from Mount Pleasant were taken into custody for the breaking and entering and larcenies that took place between Oct. 6 and Dec.6.

The incidences occurred in Coldwater, Deerfield, Gilmore and Sherman Townships in Isabella County.

Isabella County Sheriff’s Detectives also recovered stolen property from Clare County and turned it over to the Clare County Sheriff’s Department for prosecution in Clare County.

Rodriguez and Keller have each been charged with two counts of Breaking and Entering a Building and two counts of Larceny in a Building.

Pingilley has been charged with one count of Breaking and Entering a Building and one count Larceny in a Building.

A press release from the Isabella County Sheriff’s Department stated some of the recovered items included several farm tractors, several gooseneck trailers, a horse trailer, chicken nests and incubators, 200 gallon tank sprayer, two boats and many other items.

Isabella County Sheriff’s Department is continuing to investigate the incidents.

UPDATED: No suspects identified in theft of $8,000 worth of property from Mount Pleasant Community Church

Orrin Shawl — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:00:48 +0000

Police are still searching for suspects in a burglary and larceny of more than $8,000 worth of property at Mount Pleasant Community Church, 1400 W. Broomfield St.

Officers from the Mount Pleasant Police Department responded to the reported breaking and entering at 8:26 a.m. April 6.

The church door was opened by force and eight different offices were burglarized, said Jeff Browne, Mount Pleasant Police Department public information officer. Among the items stolen were two laptops, several computer accessories, two digital cameras, several camera lenses, two Nintendo Wii controllers, an autographed baseball, $50 in cash, candy and soda.

Browne said the cameras and camera equipment were valued at $6,685 alone.

Police have not identified or arrested any suspects, but are developing possible fingerprints. Evidence is being sent to the Michigan State Crime Lab for analysis.

Pastor Rob Muldoon, director of operations, administration, finance and facility at Mount Pleasant Community Church, said because of the ongoing investigation, the church cannot discuss details.

“The congregation is aware of it,” Muldoon said. “In fact, it was on Facebook Wednesday morning.”

Wallace senior and church member Chris Strobel had not heard of the burglary, but was shocked when he found out about it.

“I think it’s a horrible thing, I don’t know why anyone would want to steal from a church,” he said. “I think that the Mount Pleasant Community Church can rebound from it. I don’t know why anyone would do that.”

Mount Pleasant Community Church hosted one of its Community Days Saturday, in which church volunteers help out the community through methods such as a mobile food pantry.

Police agencies report close to 20 break-ins, one on campus over holiday break

Gabi Jaye — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 10:00:08 +0000

Several student housing areas throughout Isabella County were victim to breaking and enterings over the holiday break.

The Isabella County Sheriff’s Department reported 14 burglary offenses from Dec. 10 through Jan. 11.

Reported break-ins
•Isabella County: 14, eight student housing
•Mount Pleasant: four
•CMU: one

Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski said eight of those incidents occurred in areas along Deerfield Road where many student housing complexes are located.

“This number is a little higher than what we’ve normally seen,” he said.

Mioduszewski said the intruders try to target where there are not a lot of people around and the chances of successfully breaking in are higher.

He said many electronic items like video games, DVDs and an Xbox unit were stolen.

Two suspects confessed to the crimes, Mioduszewski said, after they were located and arrested. Most of the property stolen was recovered and returned to owners.

“The Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police, Mount Pleasant Police, and CMU police were all instrumental in locating the subjects that broke into those apartments,” Mioduszewski said. “There was a good law enforcement effort here in the county.”

The Mount Pleasant Police Department reported four student housing break-ins during the winter break period.

Their number of burglaries were reduced by half compared to the 2009-10 break.

“These numbers show that both our educational campaign is working and that our prevention patrols are working,” said MPPD Public Information Officer Jeff Browne.

MPPD published safety tips the week before break to educate students about how they can keep their residence secure.

Browne said there may be groups of individuals that wait for students to go on break. He said this could be one of the contributing factors to break-ins in student housing.

“There could be people who prey upon that,” Browne said.

Browne said from past experience, many break-ins have occurred because students do not secure their doors and neglect to take small safety precautions.

He said he wants students to be aware that things like this do happen in Mount Pleasant.

“The more people we can touch upon and talk to will help reduce the number of break-ins,” he said.

The number of student housing breaking and enterings was also low in CMU’s campus housing.

Lt. Cameron Wassman said there was only one incident over break. An individual broke into a Barnes Hall kitchen on Dec. 19.

“There was approximately $50 of food items stolen,” Wassman said. “But the items were later recovered.”

Wassman said no arrests have been made at this time and that the incident is still under investigation.

He said break-ins are typically reported by students the week after classes have started, but he does not anticipate many.

One arrested after about $2,800 stolen in apartment parking lot

Joe Borlik — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:10:14 +0000

A 21-year-old Alma male was arrested Monday for breaking into five cars and stealing more than $2,800 worth of items at The Village at Bluegrass apartments in Union Township.

Michael Edward Lowell has been charged with five counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle to steal property. His bond is set at $7,000.

Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski said Lowell allegedly stole about $2,200 worth of CDs, a bowling ball and bowling shoes valued at $320 and other electronic items including an adapter cord and a GPS cord.

All five vehicles he broke into were unlocked, Mioduszewski said.

“If they had locked their doors, he probably wouldn’t have gotten the items,” Mioduszewski said.

He said the suspect was going from car to car and if one was locked he would move to the next one.

He was arrested at about 4 a.m. at the apartments’ 4300 Collegiate Way location.

Police arrived after responding to a call and found the suspect.

All of the stolen goods were recovered after being found in the back of the suspect’s truck.

Mount Pleasant police report 11 break-ins since Oct. 18

Jake Bolitho — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:00:41 +0000

The Mount Pleasant Police Department is investigating a series of breaking-and-enterings that took place the past few weeks.

Since Oct. 18, a total of 11 burglary-related cases in several houses and apartments around town have been reported by the department, seven of which occurred from Oct. 18 to Oct. 26 alone, according to an MPPD press log.

Central Michigan University Police Chief Bill Yeagley said the break-ins are not nearly as common on campus.

“There are very few on campus,” he said. “We have had several larcenies in the dorms, but they involve unlocked doors.”

The breaking-and-enterings are similar to the numerous vehicle larcenies that were reported recently, he said. Both go in streaks and all signs indicate they are being committed by the same person or people.

Yeagley said most of the time, the crimes can be prevented by simply making sure doors are locked. To reduce the odds of a forced-entry burglary, several measures can be taken.

“Lighting is key — the more secure the lock, the better,” he said. “These deter the people from breaking into your place.”

Several security cameras are placed throughout each of the residence halls. The cameras do not point into each individual room, but they can be used to catch suspicious activity in the hallways, so the suspect can later be tracked down, Yeagley said.

“The cameras are really helpful, but it does not guarantee anything,” he said.