Pair Charged In Coeur D’Alene Business Break-Ins Police Probe Possible Links To Other Burglaries

Two men who live in the same apartment complex were charged Wednesday with burglarizing three Coeur d’Alene businesses over the weekend.

Police say the arrests of Michael E. McKeel, 19, and Adam J. Ams, 20, could lead to other charges, but they are not ready to declare a break in the surge of burglaries that has plagued the city recently.

“We are looking into at least one of these two in a number of other burglaries in the area,” said Coeur d’Alene police Capt. Carl Bergh.

Detectives believe the men also may have information that could lead to arrests in other recent burglaries around the city. Nearly two dozen business burglaries have been reported during the past four weeks, according to police reports.

Several officers have been temporarily reassigned to help detectives investigate the burglaries, Bergh said. Police are working from a printout of burglaries that have been reported during the past few months, looking for similarities.

Detectives have questioned other people about the run of break-ins and expect the number of cases that are resolved to “grow as the days go on,” Bergh said.

McKeel and Ams have been charged with breaking into three businesses on Nov. 2, Deputy Prosecutor Joel Hazel said. Criminal complaints filed Wednesday afternoon allege McKeel and Ams broke into Fran’s Regina Lounge on North Fourth Street, Dianne’s Village Pantry on East Harrison Avenue and Lake City Junior Academy on Locust Avenue.

According to a police report, burglars removed a window air conditioner unit late Sunday to break into Fran’s Regina Lounge and ransacked the business. Change from a cigarette vending machine was the only thing missing, and the thieves may have left behind a hatchet, the report said.

A few blocks away, three vents were pried off the roof of Dianne’s Village Pantry, allowing burglars to climb into the business through the kitchen, a police report said. Inside, the burglars rummaged through the freezer, bread racks, cabinets and the cash register before leaving with about $9 in change, the report said.

A police report on the Lake City Junior Academy burglary was not available.

, DataTimes