Aimless intruder has way with two businesses

One or more burglars busted their way into two Libby businesses last week and directed their efforts into apparently aimless acts of aggression.

Vacuum cleaners, stepladders, doors, a bottle of wine and a bracelet were the victims. But cash register contents and valuable merchandise were left alone.

"I find it very odd," said Tish Burris, owner of 48 Degrees North Engraving, where the burglars broke through the back window Thursday.

"It looks like it was staged. They came in and deliberately threw something here and threw something there. The cash register had $150 in it. They didn't take that."

The burglar or burglars seemed generally content with tossing things around the store. At the same time, though, evidence was found that possibly indicated a sliver of selectiveness.

Employee Sabrina Pappus noted the peculiar placement of some products.

A pen and pencil letter opener set was opened. She found a letter opener on her desk and the pen in another spot.

If indiscriminate destruction wasn't the idea, then the burglar was in the wrong place. Just one room away sat a glass and acrylic city, a breakable assemblage of tea lights, glass frames and glass decor.

Instead, the burglar shattered a bottle of wine on the floor and then stepped around, leaving wine-saturated footprints as evidence.

Next door, around the same time, a burglar broke down the door to Burger Express at 205 E. Ninth St. Surrounded by a kitchen of patties and french fries, the burglar left empty handed.

"It's consistent with a drunk, things knocked around and valuables left," said Police Chief Clay Coker, who responded to a report earlier that morning of a 5' 9," 200-pound man stumbling west on U.S. Highway 2.

"I came out a few minutes later and couldn't find him," Coker said.

The man asked a motorist for directions to the Evergreen Motel at 808 Mineral Ave.

No one who matched that description checked into the motel, Coker said.