Burglary string suspect in district court in Polson

POLSON — In four separate cases associated with an extensive local burglary string, Cote Wheeler pleaded not guilty to four felony counts of burglary and one felony count of tampering with physical evidence in an April 29 Lake County District Court arraignment hearing.

The 20-year-old Ronan man is accused of taking part in burglaries of Arlee businesses Wilson's Foods and the Pigasus Bar on Nov. 13 and Nov. 19, 2008 before aiding in two Lake County home burglaries in December.

Wheeler was reportedly released on $20,000 bail. An omnibus hearing for all four of Wheeler's cases is set for 9 a.m. on June 24.

According to court documents, the defendant's spree began on Nov. 13 when he and three other men allegedly entered Wilson's Foods in Arlee through an addition to the building that was under construction. The foursome allegedly made off with two cases of beer, dropping a third in the parking lot.

A police affidavit states that Wheeler later admitted in a Jan. 16 interview with Lake County Sheriff's Detective Mike Gehl that he, Jaret Freeman, Jonathan Morton and Colton Wheeler burglarized the store.

On Nov. 19, Cote Wheeler and Morton allegedly entered Arlee's Pigasus Bar through a window and took two knives, $500 in cash and 32 bottles of liquor — worth approximately $800. In the Jan. 16 interrogation, Cote allegedly told investigators that Colton Wheeler and Freeman stayed in the truck as lookouts while he and Morton made three trips into the bar. Colton also reportedly worked at the Pigasus in 2008, and told Cote where the money was stashed.

After making off with the loot, the group reportedly went on to Missoula to "party for the night," celebrating their assumed successful heist. But it would be this incident that eventually led to the burglars' arrest.

According to court documents, the bar owners called investigators later to report that they had received a tip from a bartender at Stockman's Bar, who had witnessed a suspicious vehicle driving around the Arlee neighborhood the night of the burglary. The bartender told Sheriff's Deputy Pat O'Connor that the cruising vehicle was a "jacked up" green Dodge pickup that they did not recognize as a local vehicle.

Then on Nov. 22, the Lake County Sheriff's Dispatch received an anonymous tip that Cote Wheeler had burglarized the tavern. Upon receiving that information, Detective Gehl checked the vehicle description with Wheeler's truck and found a match. This would eventually lead to the Lake County Sheriff's Office retaining a district court search warrant in December to place a GPS device on Wheeler's truck, a move that led to Wheeler and Morton's arrest in Missoula County on Jan. 15.

Lake County investigators notified Missoula authorities that the tracked vehicle was displaying a suspicious pattern of movement in neighborhoods and Wheeler and the 19-year-old Morton were caught allegedly attempting to commit a home burglary outside of Missoula with two loaded handguns and two knives believed to have been stolen from a Missoula Police officer's home they burglarized earlier that day.

According to Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Sargeant, the two men were at one time believed to be connected to 22 local break-ins, three break-ins in Missoula County with two attempted burglaries, and four burglaries in Flathead County including the arson of the Echo Lake Store in Bigfork.

Wheeler was also in court Wednesday for two of those local home break-ins, a burglary at a Crow Dam residence around Dec. 2 followed by another at a West Post Creek home on Dec. 13.

According to court documents, a man found what appeared to be a stolen lockbox near the Pablo overpass and brought it in to Ronan Police Chief Dan Wadsworth on Dec. 2. A homeowner who had recently been robbed identified it as his lockbox that had been stolen from this residence and forced open. The victim said that $800 had been taken from the box along with an additional $600 from the home and a revolver.

In the Jan. 16 detective's interrogation, Wheeler allegedly admitted to burglarizing the residence with an accomplice, taking the money and the gun — adding that the revolver was at his sister's residence in Bigfork. When investigators searched for the gun they found nothing, but the next day Wheeler's mother called it in.

Investigators then traced a phone call that allegedly included Cote asking his sister to get rid of the weapon. This action led to Wheeler's felony evidence tampering charge.

Then on Dec. 13 Cote, Colton Wheeler, and Jonathan Morton allegedly burglarized another home, entering through the garage to steal three guns, a camera, jewelry and cash. Detective Gehl investigated the burglary, noting tire tracks in the driveway that matched the tread from Wheeler's truck, prompting the use of the search warrant-approved GPS monitoring method.

After being arrested in mid January, Wheeler and Morton both admitted to burglarizing the home. Among the guns was a Remington 1100 shotgun, which was discovered at a Kalispell pawn shop just days after the burglary date.

While Cote Wheeler's Lake County court dates are underway, Jonathan Morton has to be charged locally as he is heavily linked to crimes in Flathead and Missoula counties. However, the level of this pair's involvement doesn't end there.

A 19-year-old Polson man also pleaded not guilty to felony burglary and felony theft in an April 29 district court arraignment hearing. Bryan Healy, is accused of taking part in burglarizing a home on Jan. 13 with Jonathan Morton and his 18-year-old brother, Cheyenne Morton. When the homeowner's son came home he noticed the flatscreen television, costing in excess of $1,000, and an Xbox and several games were missing.

Two days later at school, a friend of the son's heard that two other male students had just bought a new television. When the buyers were asked where they got it from, they told the son Cote Wheeler sold it to them. The next day the television was returned to the family's home by Bryan Healy and Cheyenne Morton.

In an interview, Healy and Cheyenne both told investigators that they had burglarized the home with Jonathan Morton and that the stolen items had been taken to the buyer's apartment. The Xbox and games were later recovered by police from that residence.

Cheyenne was arrested on a warrant on April 29 and made her initial court appearance the next day to have the charges of felony burglary and felony theft read before her. Bond is fixed at $10,000 for both Healy and Cheyenne, who face maximum penalties of up to 30 years in prison and $100,000 in fines.

Cheyenne has been ordered to appear before Judge Deborah Kim Christopher on May 7. An omnibus hearing for Healy is set for June 17 at 9 a.m.