Lambertsen charged for role in Christmas break-ins

The second half of a pair of alleged burglars accused of ransacking multiple vehicles and a home Christmas night was arraigned in Lincoln County District Court on March 8.

Shaul Paul Lambertsen, 18, faces felony counts of theft and burglary as well as three misdemeanor counts of each. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Following an investigation into the string of late December break-ins, deputies honed in on Lambertsen and his 18-year-old friend, Dominic Gordon. Deputy Robert Salyer began to look into the pair after one of the victim’s girlfriends said she suspected a teenager who hung out in the neighborhood.

Salyer tracked the teen — later identified as Gordon — to a home on Bootleg Road. The property owner, who lived in Hawaii, rented the rooms of the finished portion of the house out to tenants, which included Lambertsen.

Speaking to Salyer over the phone, the landlord said that Lambertsen had acted “paranoid” in the few weeks that he had rented a room there. According to court documents, Lamberstsen disabled surveillance cameras in the home and had a friend named “Dominic” over on the weekends.

The property owner told Salyer that he had forbidden Dominic from entering the home.

A roommate confirmed Lambertsen’s odd behavior, telling Sayler they suspected Lambertsen of some kind of illicit activity. Unable to search Lambertsen’s room without a warrant, Salyer asked the property owner if he could search the unfinished section of the home and its garage.

Inside the garage, Salyer located a black sled loaded with items reported as stolen during the string of break-ins. He also collected a handgun that was not listed as a stolen item and a W-2 form, court documents said.

Armed with the allegedly stolen goods, Salyer applied for and received a search warrant for Lambertsen’s room. There, he found wet shoes and a red beam flashlight, which also was reported stolen.

The pair allegedly broke into three trucks, a car and a home during the spree, according to court documents. At that time, Salyer had received word that both suspects had fled to Flathead County. The details of their arrests were not immediately available.

Gordon was arraigned on the same set of charges in early February. An omnibus hearing in that case is scheduled for May 3 with a pretrial conference to follow on June 7. Were that case to go to trial, it would begin July 13.

On March 8, Gordon’s defense attorney negotiated the terms of his release from the Lincoln County Detention Center. Mandated drug and alcohol screenings proved the major sticking point.

Gordon’s attorney argued that neither drugs nor alcohol played a role in the case. Since using illicit drugs or consuming alcohol under the age of 21 remained illegal for the 18-year-old, infractions of that sort were already covered by the terms of supervision.

District Judge Matthew Cuffe disagreed, suggesting that testing would alert authorities if Gordon had broken the agreed upon terms.

“If he’s not to use drugs, because it’s illegal, and not to drink, because he’s underage, then I’m going to allow testing,” Cuffe said.

As for Lambertsen, an omnibus hearing is scheduled for May 24 with a pretrial conference set for June 28. Were the case to go to trial, it would begin the week of Aug. 10.