Burglary string unraveling

Lake County Sheriff’s Office detectives now believe that local burglary suspects Jonathan Morton and Cote Wheeler are linked to at least 22 break-ins and associated thefts in Lake County, on top of break-ins and arson charges in Missoula and Flathead counties.

Morton, 19, of Polson and Wheeler, 20, of Ronan were allegedly caught attempting to commit a burglary outside of Missoula two weeks ago when Lake County detectives notified Missoula authorities that the two men were being tracked with a GPS device on their car and displayed a suspicious pattern of behavior believed to be casing homes or committing burglaries.

According to Lake County Lt. Mike Sargeant, the two men have been connected with the nearly two dozen local break-ins, three break-ins in Missoula County with two attempted burglaries, and four burglaries in Flathead County including the arson of the Echo Lake Store in Bigfork.

The two men were arrested on Jan. 15 by Missoula officers on the tip. Morton and Wheeler were arrested reportedly with two loaded handguns, some jewelry and two knives from the home of Missoula Police Officer Ed Gydas.

Upon police interviewing, Wheeler reportedly admitted burglarizing the Gydas home and also confessed to seven burglaries in Lake County.

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

According to Lt. Sargeant, both men are facing pending charges in Lake County as the investigation is currently ongoing.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is collaborating with several law enforcement agencies on the case as additional individuals believed to be connected to the string of burglaries have been interviewed and continue to be interviewed by local authorities.

Sargeant said there may be more incidents of local break-ins that are still yet to be linked to the case, adding that additional arrests will most likely be made before the case is closed.

The GPS device used to track the suspects was secured with a District Court approved search warrant and 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.