Arrests made in Pinehurst burglary spree

PINEHURST — One adult male and five juveniles are facing multiple criminal charges after being arrested for a rash of burglaries throughout Pinehurst over the holiday weekend.

What began as a routine day in the life of a small-town police officer quickly became one of the more intriguing ones as a simple humorous Facebook post from the Pinehurst Library seemingly unraveled the significant crime spree.

The Facebook post on June 1 that called out multiple youths that were smoking behind the library on Memorial Day.

"We are thrilled that you love hanging out at our library," the post stated. "We are a little concerned about the smoking though. We do have books available to help you quit."

PPD officer Jeff Demery followed up on the post and ended up making contact with all of the involved juveniles that same day.

Following an investigation and conversations with parents, it was determined that the smoking juveniles, along with a Quentin Mendy, 19, of Kellogg, had been allegedly responsible for numerous home/vehicle break-ins throughout town during the late hours of May 31 and early morning hours of June 1.

Impressively, the spree covered a large swath of ground running from near Real Life Ministries all the way to Stebbins Road in the Weir Gulch area of Pinehurst, covering roughly two miles worth of residential streets in the process.

As of June 2, many of the thousands of dollars worth of miscellaneous stolen items — including a handgun, a wallet, multiple sets of keys, and a crowbar to name a few — have been recovered by PPD.

Pinehurst Mayor Bob Jutila was very pleased with his city’s law enforcement for their quick action which likely was why the case got solved as quickly as it did.

“They were able to get right on it, track the culprits down and apprehend them quickly which was awesome,” Jutila said.

Pinehurst Police Chief Tami Holdahl wants people to recognize that times are changing and the era of Small Town, USA, might be over for places like Pinehurst.

“This isn’t Mayberry anymore,” Holdahl said. “Folks need to lock up their homes, garages and vehicles.”

Jutila hopes that this incident is just a one off for the normally quiet bedroom community.

“I haven’t heard of anything like this in years,” Jutila said. “It’s just not something that’s common for us. We do have a lot of people moving into the area — hopefully they are here trying to find that quiet life that we enjoy.”

As for the responsible parties, Jutila was disappointed that five of the offenders were juveniles and hopes that they see being caught as an opportunity for creating change in their lives.

“It’s sad to see young kids going this direction so early in life,” Jutila said. “You’d hope that whatever happens to them turns them around and helps them become productive members of society — but that is up to them.”

Shoshone County Jail booking reports indicate that Mendy was booked on initial charges of grand theft, unlawful possession of a firearm, burglary, petit theft and unlawful entry. Demery states that these are merely preliminary booking charges and that many more of the same charges will be filled in the coming days.

It is unknown what charges the juvenile suspects are currently facing.

PPD asks Pinehurst residents that were victimized by the spree to not come by the police station, but to call them at 208-682-3662 and make a report. While many items have been recovered, residents may have to wait to get them back, as the items are being treated as evidence at this time.

"We are sorry if this is an inconvenience to anyone and are working diligently to resolve this case," Demery said. "For those missing car-keys some have been located, so please call and make a report so we can do the proper follow up."