Suspect arrested for Eureka justice office arson, burglaries

A 20-year-old man allegedly confessed Monday to a string of Eureka burglaries and an October act of arson in the Eureka justice office that shut down the North Lincoln County Annex Building for over a month.

Eric Robert Haas’s bond was set at $300,000 at his initial appearance Tuesday in justice court in Eureka. His case will be moved to district court because it involves felony charges. 

Haas is suspected of burglarizing four Eureka businesses in October and setting fire to Justice of the Peace Stormy Langston’s desk after breaking into the annex building and finding no cash. He allegedly told authorities that he was under the influence of cocaine that night and that he acted alone. 

Investigators believe Haas was allegedly looking for cash and that he did not have a qualm with the judge.

“There was no personal vendetta against her (Langston) or the county,” said Capt. Roby Bowe of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

Haas was implicated Tuesday in the Oct. 24 burglaries and arson after he allegedly confessed to two Eureka burglaries committed over the weekend at the Mormon church and his mother-in-law’s thrift store.

He is being held on seven counts of felony burglary and one count of felony arson.

Deputy Bo Pitman spotted Haas in black clothing standing across the street from the Law Enforcement Center near the thrift store in the wee hours of Monday morning, Pitman recalled. Haas explained that he was waiting for a ride, according to Pitman, so the officer left and later returned to check that Haas was gone. The following morning, Pitman learned the thrift store and Mormon church had both been broken into.

Shoeprints found at both locations matched, Pitman said, but when Haas arrived for questioning, he was wearing different shoes. 

“He wasn’t wearing the same shoes as the shoe prints we had from the church and the thrift shop,” Pitman said. “… They matched up identical to two of the burglaries in October, though.”

Haas and his white Buick Sedan match a description the annex janitor gave authorities in October, Pitman said, of a man sitting alone in a vehicle parked on the north side of the building at 10 p.m. the night of the arson.

Nothing was reported stolen from the Mormon church over the weekend and it is unclear if the thrift store was missing anything. Less than $1,000 in cash was reported stolen in the October burglaries, though there was thousands of dollars worth of damage.

The weekend burglaries were similar to those in October, Pitman said, with money being the goal.

“It’s really consistent with all these burglaries – breaking windows to open doorknobs, going through desks to find keys to filing cabinets,” Pitman said. “Leaving digital cameras and computers everywhere. The only thing taken out of these places are cash and sometimes coinage.”

Authorities haven’t determined yet why the burglar set fire to the judge’s desk, but they suspect it was out of frustration of not finding money in the annex building.

“He said he went through every office and every desk at that annex,” Pitman said. “… He was frustrated he went through the whole building and didn’t get a penny.”

Haas allegedly told authorities that he had money problems.

“The theme throughout (Haas’s confession) was that it was for his family,” Pitman said. “He has an 11-month-old son and he (Haas) was either terminated or let go, I think within a month of the initial burglaries.”