Two eastern Iowa teens have been arrested in connection to a string of burglaries, including the suspected theft of a vehicle in Dallas County last week.
Friday we told you law enforcement was on the lookout, and hoping for the public’s help, in locating two suspects last seen in a minivan stolen from Dallas Center.
According to Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar, 18 year-old Aaron Mikel Bender and 19 year-old Dillon Michael Whetstine, both of Kalona, were arrested Monday night, and have been charged with two counts of 3rd degree burglary and one count of theft of a motor vehicle.
Sheriff Dunbar says there have been five burglaries reported in the Kalona area in the last month, the first occurring on the 13th, two more before the 25th and two on the 25th of October. In the Washington County cases, the suspects burglarized businesses and a church, stealing mostly cash.
Dallas Center Police Chief Michelle Leonard told Raccoon Valley Radio Friday, an DC Muffler employee interrupted a burglary in progress when he arrived at work shortly after 6am. He called 911 and reported the license plate of a vehicle found at the scene. Dispatchers determined the vehicle was reported stolen from Washington County. The burglar and another suspect, who officers believe was attempting to burglarize the Heartland Co-op at the same time as the DC Muffler incident, then stole the minivan and fled the scene. Leonard says the minivan was recovered in West Des Moines late Saturday night and the suspects allegedly hitch hiked their way back to Kalona.
Charges have not yet been filed against Bender in Whetstine in connection with the Dallas Center cases.
Both men are currently being held in the Washington County jail. Bond was set at $100,000 each, with Bender receiving an additional $50,000 bond for violating his probation after being convicted of burglary and theft just last month. Whetstine’s probation violation is still pending.
Raccoon Valley Radio will continue to bring you more information as it becomes official.