Over $20,000 in stolen items seized

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is looking to link hundreds of items, estimated to be worth more than $20,000, from a recent seizure to cases involving burglarized storage units, properties and homes. 

Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Holzer said the seizure stemmed from a traffic stop on Sept. 24, in which the driver led Holzer on a pursuit back to the driver’s home. Once at the home, Holzer said he had enough probable cause to obtain a search warrant and seize the items found on the property.

Holzer said at least two males are suspects in the string of burglaries, which he believes were committed in attempt to make money to support their drug habits. The sheriff’s office is currently seeking arrest warrants for the two men, whom Holzer said have been suspects in the burglary spree for some time.

On the property, Holzer said he and Detective Nate Scofield found items listed in a host of burglary cases spanning at least the past two months.

“Some of these are straight out of people’s houses,” Holzer said.

There are currently hundreds of items marked in evidence, but Holzer said the number could be in the thousands if they are marked item by item. The items include tools, televisions, guns, fishing rods, computer monitors, a 12,000-pound wench, and hundreds more.

The problem with such a large batch of confiscated items, Undersheriff Brandon Huff said, is that the rightful owners might not even know the items are missing yet.

“The problem is that pawn shops receive and sell items before people even realize they’re missing,” he said. “So there’s items here and we don’t know who they belong to.”

Holzer said he hopes to connect the items back with the owners through the sheriff’s department’s community meetings. The next Libby meeting is planned for 6:15 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7, at the Flathead Valley Community College Campus, and Troy’s meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6, at the Troy High School auditorium.

If items are not claimed, Holzer said they would be auctioned off by the county.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 293-4124 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.