Burglar caught in Curtiss village hall break-in

Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to the Village of Curtiss village hall around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30 for a report of a break in by two male subjects.

The officers arrived on-scene and a witness met with officers. The witness told the officers the two male subjects broke into the building, then broke into an office inside the building, tried to open a file cabinet where the village keeps cash and then took the village’s security system. The witness’s husband, also spoke with officers and said he thought he knew where the two subjects lived.

The man said he was following the two subjects after they ran away from the building. The man said he saw them head near a neighboring apartment and then later saw them walking on the sidewalk between the apartment complex and the village hall while he was driving. The man said he didn’t stop and confront the duo because he didn’t want to get into an altercation. The man said as he was driving past the hall, he noticed the two subjects were back inside and then he observed them run out of the building and towards the entrance to the apartment.

The man described the two subjects to the officers and showed them the damage to the office. He told the officer one of the males was wearing a white shirt and the other was wearing a dark shirt. No cash appeared to be missing from the file cabinet. The door frame was broken from someone forcing entry into the office. The man showed the officers where the security camera was near the entrance and it was missing.

The door on the north end of the building had a pry mark as if someone used a pry bar to pull open the door. The officers cleared the hall and walked to the neighboring apartment. The officers met with a woman who has a son at the address. The officers asked the woman if her son was home. The woman said he had just left with his friend about 20 minutes prior. The woman said her son was inside on the couch during the hours of 9 to 9:30 p.m. She said she believed her son’s friend’s mom picked them up.

The woman could not tell the officers what color shirt her son was wearing or if she knew who her son’s friend was. While talking with the woman, the officers noticed she was looking down and appeared to be nervous. The woman reiterated that she believed her son to be inside the residence during the specified time period. The officers told the woman to call her son and find out where he was. The woman complied and her son said he was in a vehicle between Curtiss and Abbotsford. The officer gave the woman his business card and told her to call him when her son returned home.

At approximately 10:22 p.m., the officer left the residence and made contact with three subjects who were sitting outside of a residence across from the village hall. The officer asked the subjects if they saw anything. One of the subjects said he observed a lamp on inside the building so he walked over to the Mayor of Curtiss’s residence and told him. The male subject then said he observed two male subjects exit the building and run towards the apartment complex. The man said after they had reentered the hall and exited, the duo entered a black SUV and spun out of the parking lot.

The officer asked the male subject if he knew who the male subjects were and he said he was not sure. At this time, one of the females stated, “I think they are going to drive past us now.” All three subjects then stated the suspect vehicle was driving southbound on Meridian St. past the offividuals cer’s current location.

The officer observed the SUV and the license plate but did not observe anyone in the passenger seat. The officer got in his squad car and initiated a traffic stop of the vehicle. The officer requested the driver to exit the vehicle. The driver did so and he did not have a shirt on. The man said his shirt was in the vehicle but said he did not know what color his shirt was. The suspect gave the deputy permission to look inside the vehicle for his shirt but the deputy did not find one. The man said he just took his friend home and told the officer his friend’s name and that he lived somewhere in Abbotsford.

The suspect said he was in Abbotsford from 9 - 9:35 p.m. that evening. The officer told the suspect his mother had said he was home during that same time frame. The suspect denied entering any buildings he and his friend were not supposed to in that time frame. The suspect said he did not have a valid driver’s license and said he did not care if he received a citation for driving illegally.

At this time, the other deputy asked the suspect what was in his backpack. The suspect pulled the bag off his back and dumped all the contents of the bag onto the floor. In the bag was a 3x5 flask. The deputy grabbed the flask and asked what was in it. The suspect said, “Figure it out.” The officer opened the flask and smelled it. He said it smelled like an intoxicating beverage and the other deputy took custody of the flask. The man told officers he was still on probation.

Due to the suspect being a minor, the officers called the on-call Clark County social worker. The social worker put a 72-hour hold on the suspect pending an investigation.

The officers issued the suspect citations for operating a motor vehicle without a valid license (second offense in three years) and having possession of alcohol. The suspect blew a 0.000 on a preliminary breath test. The officers transported him to the Juvenile Detention Center in Eau Claire and referred charges for burglary and criminal damage to property.