Posted October 28, 2004
NEW RICHMOND NEWS: A man charged with the burglary of the Copper Kettle restaurant in Hammond last November has been convicted in Polk County. Thomas Lynn Russell, 42, Menomonie, was convicted of a separate burglary Sept. 7 in Polk County and sentenced to seven years, six months in prison and five years extended supervision. The Hammond burglary and a Dunn County charge were read into the record with the conviction. The criminal complaint said Russell broke into the Copper Kettle Nov. 16 and took some $1,200 in cash. He is scheduled to face other burglary charges involving the Crossroads Restaurant on Hwy. 46 and the Laurel Supper Club on Hwy. 64 in the Town of Stanton and the Burkhardt Co-op on Oct. 20, 2003.
Thursday, April 15, 2004
More charges filed in rash of
burglaries
By Julie Shehane-Bannink, News staff reporter
jshehane@rivertowns.net
Prosecutors say group is responsible for break-ins in several counties
Prosecutors in several counties have filed additional burglary charges in connection with a string of burglaries, which took place over a period of several months beginning in October, 2003. St. Croix County prosecutors filed three burglary charges last week against 18-year-old Zachary Dean Morgan, of New Richmond, and 40-year-old Thomas Lynn Russell, of Menomonie.
The felony charges stem from break-ins at the Laurel Supper Club and the Crossroads Restaurant and Bar, both east of New Richmond, and the Burkhardt Cooperative, also known as Holiday, near Hudson. The incidents took place Oct. 20, 2003.
Morgan, Russell and Harley G. Olson, 23, of Menomonie, are also facing separate St. Croix County burglary charges in connection with the November 2003 break-in at the Copper Kettle Restaurant in Hammond.
Plea-hearing dates have been set for all three defendants on burglary charges in Polk County. Those charges, filed in December 2003, stem from an early morning break-in at Uncle Bob’s Bar in downtown Amery, which took place in November 2003.Their friend, James David Teegarden, 20 of Menomonie, is facing seven burglary charges in three counties.
Jackson County prosecutors filed two burglary charges against Teegarden last month in connection with break-ins that occurred March 1, 2004. He was charged in December 2003 with two separate counts of burglary that took place in Dunn County in July and November is also facing three burglary charges in connection with three of the four St. Coix County break-ins.Records indicate Teegarden is charged in connection with break-ins at the Laurel Supper Club, Crossroads Restaurant and Bar and the Burkhardt Cooperative, but has not been charged with the Copper Kettle burglary.
Records indicate Teegarden was free on bail at the time of the Jackson County burglaries last month. That bail has since been revoked.A fifth defendant, Dustin C. Baksin, 19, of Glenwood City, is also facing one count of felony burglary in the Jackson County break-in, but has not been charged in any other county.
In each of the break-ins, it is believed that the suspects wore masks and gloves and used walkie-talkies to communicate while they ransacked the buildings and removed cash.
If convicted on each of the burglary charges, the five defendants could face up to 12.5 years in prison and a maximum fine of $25,000.
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
WXCE Radio News
Burglary bust at Uncle Bob’s Bar in
downtown Amery
UNCLE BOB'S BURGLARY STRETCHES ACROSS COUNTY LINES
The November burglary bust at Uncle Bob’s Bar in downtown Amery has led to a sweeping investigation that crosses county lines, and is leading to numerous break-in charges for a growing number of local individuals. That Uncle Bob’s burglary led to the arrest of 40-year-old Thomas L. Russell of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, 18-year-old Zachary D. Morgan of New Richmond, and 23-year-old Harley Olson of Menomonie after a Sunday morning scuffle with the bartender, and a chance stop by local law enforcement north of Amery with burglary tools and masks in the car. But those charges have now snowballed into a sweeping series of charges in several counties. The trio has also been indicted in St. Croix County Court as well for charges stemming from Hammond restaurant break-in, and a Hudson and New Richmond rash of burglaries that took place last fall. Olson appeared in Polk County Circuit Court on Tuesday, and may have reached a plea agreement with court officials, depending on how St. Croix County authorities deal with similar matters, and possibly based on how much information he provides for prosecutors against the other suspects. Thomas Russell faces the most serious charges in the matters, and has been called the “ringleader” of the burglary group. Even more serious allegations face Russell in St. Croix County. Charges were filed last week implicating him on three felony burglary counts, with repeater enhancements. He faces more than 12 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines in St. Croix County alone. Zachary Morgan faces similar charges in Polk and St. Croix Counties, after officials filed three felony burglary charges last week.. He makes a preliminary appearance before Judge Eric Lundell on Monday, and was supposed to make a plea in Polk County Court on Friday, but was granted more time until other implications are worked. The cases don’t end with the three Uncle Bob’s suspects, however. Another Menomonie man – 20-year-old James Teegarden – was implicated in similar and related charges in Jackson County on burglary, theft and criminal damage of property charges. Teegarden has been implicated along with two of the other individuals, and investigators are still piecing together other charges, as well as tying him to the New Richmond and Hammond-are burglaries last fall. Another man faces related charges from the incident: 19-year-old Dustin Baskin of Glenwood City is also facing a felony count in relation to the Jackson County charges, but local charges have yet to be filed. One of the common denominators in all of the break-ins appears to be that the group worked as a team after the establishments were closed, using portable radios and wearing masks and gloves.
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Burglars hit 2 rural New
Richmond restaurants
New Richmond News
An alarm system may have prevented further losses early Monday morning as burglars struck the Laurel Supper Club and the Crossroads Restaurant and bar, east of New Richmond. (South of Deer Park on highway 64.)
Sheriff Dennis Hillstead said Tuesday that the burglaries are linked and are probably related to another break-in earlier Monday morning at the Burkhardt Cooperative between Hudson and New Richmond.
In fact, the restaurant break-ins were probably the last stop for the intruders on a spree that may have started with at least two break-ins in Pierce County early Monday morning.
Hillstead said the Sheriff’s Department is looking for two individuals who showed up on security videotape from at least one of the burglary locations.
The New Richmond break-ins happened minutes apart, both at about 5 a.m.
Intruders first broke into a door on the walk-out lower level of the Laurel, ransacked the building and escaped with about $200 in receipts from the previous night, according to owner Gary Gorka.
“I’ll bet I didn’t miss them by more than three or four minutes,” said Gorka, who drove down from his Amery area residence and found the back door of the building forced. He shined his headlights on the entrance and called 911 to summon police.
As police were responding to the first call, yet another break-in occurred at the Crossroads, located at the northeast corner of State Highway 64 and U.S. Highway 63, also known as the Four Corners.
Hillstead said that the alarm at the Crossroads went off at 5:27 a.m. As was the case at the Laurel, the burglars stole a small amount of cash at the Crossroads.
“The Burkhardt Co-op alarm went off at 4:10 a.m.," added Hilstead. “There are similarities in each of the incidents, and we think the same persons are involved, according to the videotape we’ve seen. There were also break-ins in Pierce County earlier the same night that may be related. One of our investigators is working with Pierce County on that.”
Hillstead said that it looked like the crooks knew what they were doing and knew what they were after.
“In each of the places, the alarms were either disabled or the intruders tried to disable them,” he said. “They knew where the alarms were, where the control boxes and cameras were, and they appeared to know where the safes and cash drawers were located.”
Investigators in both counties were still working on the case at press time Tuesday afternoon.
