Police arrest alleged burglars

Lake County Sheriff’s Office detectives collaborated with Polson Police and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office using a GPS device planted on a suspect’s truck to bring in two local men suspected of committing a string of burglaries stretching over two months.

Jonathan Cody Morton, 19, of Polson and Cote Remi Wheeler, 20, of Ronan, were arrested outside a home in a rural Missoula area neighborhood on Thursday by Missoula County Sheriff’s officers who had received a tip from Lake County detectives who had been monitoring the suspects’ activity. The Missoulian reported that Morton and Wheeler were arrested with two loaded handguns, some jewelry and two knives, allegedly stolen from a home owned by Missoula Police Officer Ed Gydas.

According to a press release from Lake County Sheriff Lucky Larson, local detectives called Missoula authorities to notify them that the men had been followed using a GPS device planted in their vehicle and that the tracking on Thursday evening displayed a suspicious pattern of behavior in the neighborhood of the arrests.

The truck reportedly stopped at several locations, drawing monitors’ concerns that the men were either casing homes or committing burglaries.

The Missoulian reported that records stated in an interview with investigators, Wheeler admitted burglarizing the Gydas home and also confessed to seven burglaries in Lake County. When deputies responded to the Gydas home, they discovered the back door had been kicked in, and pistols, jewelry and knives had been taken.

Both men are reportedly charged with felony theft and burglary in Missoula County, and remain jailed on $100,000 bail.

According to Lake County Detective Michael Gehl, both men were still in Missoula as of Tuesday morning and are facing pending charges in Lake County as the investigation is currently ongoing.

Sheriff Larson stated in the release that after substantial details in a number of ongoing burglary investigations throughout Lake County were admitted to Missoula officers by the suspects, local authorities searched several residences in Polson and a residence in Woods Bay over the weekend — recovering numerous articles of stolen property from the burglaries.

Four adult males and one adult female were questioned and released in connection with the searches. One additional male was also questioned but was jailed in Lake County on an unrelated outstanding arrest warrant.

As the investigation continues, authorities would not yet release numbers as to exactly how many residences are believed to have been robbed in Lake County in connection to the two men over the holiday season. Lake County Sheriff detectives are continuing interviews and following up on additional leads.

Sheriff Larson explained that detectives chose to use the GPS technology in this case after a Colorado based company agreed to allow them to demo the device for tracking purposes. The device allows officers to perform surveillance on a subject without dedicating the extensive time and resources common to the more traditional methods of following a subject.

Officers installed the device only after obtaining a District Court search warrant authorizing the use and monitoring of the device, Larson added.