Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Victim suffered a heart attack after he discovered theft.
KINGMAN - The dream of a summer home in the Hualapais has turned sour for one Lake Havasu City couple.
Ila and Eugene Scheller have worked on renovating a little stone cottage on 20 acres of property in the Hualapai Mountains for the last four to five years.
"We live in Lake Havasu, but we've always had a place in the Hualapais for the summer and for a few days in the winter," Ila said.
Eugene bought and collected more than $5,000 worth of new and used tools for the renovation.
The tools were stored in a garage on the property.
"When winter came, we locked everything in the garage and checked on it about every week," Ila said.
On Jan. 20, Eugene went to check on the tools with his aunt and uncle.
"As soon as I got out of the car, I saw that the doors to the garage were wide open. I thought, 'Did I leave the garage unlocked?' But I could see straight through the back (of the garage)," he said.
The thieves had pulled up a portion of the metal siding on the building, crawled through the hole and then snagged Eugene's bolt cutters off the wall.
They then crawled back out the hole, ran around to the front of the garage and cut the lock off the door. "They took everything, except for a little cement mixer," Ila said.
The tools missing include a Husky air compressor, a Chicago jackhammer, a Home Depot paint sprayer and more. Most of the tools were new, although there were some older tools that Eugene had collected over his lifetime.
"I hadn't even used some of them (tools)," Eugene said. "Some of them I just bought because they were on sale, and I knew that I would need them later."
"They knew just right were to go," both Schellers said.
"It just about broke our hearts," Ila said.
It did break Eugene's heart. He hiked up through the back of his property to the street behind and then back along the road to the front of his property in an attempt to determine how the thieves had gotten onto and left the property. The anger and stress from the hike caused Eugene to have a heart attack. Luckily, his aunt and uncle were with him. They were able to rush him back to Kingman Regional Medical Center for treatment.
Eugene underwent surgery to repair the damage caused by the heart attack and is now home. He suspects that the thieves were probably familiar with the property and thinks the burglary occurred between Jan. 10 and 20.
They knew just were everything was, Ila said. The bolt cutters the thieves used are not visible from any of the windows on the garage, Eugene said.
The Schellers are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects. Anyone with information can call (928) 453-4198. They promise confidentiality to anyone who calls.
BELOW IS SOME OF THE INFORMATION ON THE THIEVES, WE WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED.
CAT WAS PRIMARY IN THE INVESTIGATION OF THIS ONE.
March 11, 2009 MOHAVE COUNTY SHERIFF DEPT NEWS
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ARRESTED FOR THE THEFT SHOWN ABOVE...
BURGLARY/TRESPASSING/TRAFFICKING STOLEN PROPERTY/THEFT – KINGMAN
Mohave County Sheriff’s detectives arrested Darald Wayne Dreier, 36,
of Kingman, Monday (3/9) afternoon for criminal trespassing, burglary,
trafficking stolen property and theft, felonies. Detectives make an
arrest in an on-going investigation that began January 22, 2009, when a
residence was burglarized in the 1400 block of Hualapai Road in the
Hualapai Mountains. The 70-year-old male victim reported more than
$5,000 worth of tools was stolen. During the investigation, detectives
learned that Dreier had sold some of the reported stolen items to a
third party. The victim was contacted by the third party and the victim
identified the items as his property. On February 27, 2009, the victim
advised detectives that he located some of his reported stolen items at
a residence in the 1000 block of Lynette Drive. Detectives responded to
the scene where the items were returned to the victim. At about 2:00
p.m., detectives contacted Dreier at a residence in the 1000 block of
Lynette Drive where he was taken into custody. He was transported and
booked into the Mohave County Jail. This investigation continues.
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