Bodhi W. Gust, 18. Manawa, is charged with burglary, two counts of attempted burglary, two counts of criminal damage to property, misdemeanor theft and operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent as party to a crime.
Shortly before 3 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 1, Deputy Jon Loken was dispatched to Sandbur Corners gas station in Ogdensburg in response to an alarm call. Iola Police Officer Curt Fields also responded.
When the officers arrived, they found no vehicles parked nearby or leaving the area. The glass door had been cracked, but there were no signs of actual entry.
When the owner arrived, the officers went inside and viewed security videos that showed two males, one wearing a two-tone winter coat and the other a plaid or checkered coat. They were also wearing hoods and handkerchiefs or scarves across their faces.
The male in the tan jacket had a crowbar and swung it at the door, cracking it. Apparently, the suspects heard the alarm go off, dropped the crowbar and ran. One of them came back and grabbed the bar. They could be seen leaving in a two-door Pontiac.
Later that same day, Deputy Clint Thobaben was dispatched to a burglary complaint at the Big Falls Feed Mill. Someone had entered the building by breaking the door latch, then had opened the drawer of the cash register.
Also on Jan. 1, Thobaben responded to a complaint at Club 161 in Ogdensburg. When the owner arrived at work that morning, he discovered that someone had kicked open the service door and entered the building.
Deputies Sara Besel and Cameron Durrant responded to a car theft complaint on Jan. 1. A maroon Chrysler PT Cruiser had been stolen from School Street in Northport.
The officers searched the area and found a silver Pontiac in the parking lot of Mukwa Town Hall. The Pontiac had been reported stolen in Waupaca while they were interviewing the owner of the missing Cruiser.
On Jan. 2, the stepmother of a 16-year-old boy met with Deputy Dave Huberty at Sandbur Corners. She said she believed her stepson may have been involved in the attempted break-in because he was a runaway and had been given a black-and-white plaid coat for Christmas.
The teen met with Loken and Huberty at the Waupaca County Law Enforcement Center. He initially denied any involvement in the crimes. Then his stepmother asked to speak with him alone. A short time later, she came out of the interview room and said he was ready to tell the truth, the complaint says.
He reportedly told the officers he had been with Gust when several of the crimes had occurred.