Sweet Home police officers caught and arrested a Sweet Home man while he allegedly was committing a burglary.
Police arrested David John Slack, 27, of 551 Ninth Ave. for first-degree burglary, felon in possession of a firearm and third-degree attempted escape.
Then, later in the day, Slack was arrested by Linn County Sheriff’s detectives in connection with the theft of seven urns containing cremated human remains from the Oddfellows Cemetery in Lebanon, Sheriff Tim Mueller said Monday.
Sweet Home police received a call from a neighbor of 516 12th Ave. at 1:52 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4.
The caller reported seeing a male at his neighbor’s front door, said Police Chief Bob Burford. “The man went out of sight to the back side of the neighbor’s house, and he knew the neighbor wasn’t at home,” the chief said. “Officers arrived and found evidence that the house had been entered and had reason to believe that the suspect was still inside.”
As more officers were arriving, the suspect looked out a window, Burford said, and then he jumped out a different window.
Officers yelled for him to stop and then pursued him, Burford said. An officer used a TASER electronic stun device on the suspect as he reached the back fence.
“He had a fairly significant laceration on one of his hands, and medics were called to treat the wound,” Burford said.
He did not sustain the wound during the arrest, Burford said. Rather, the suspect smashed a large glass coin jar rather than dumping it out, cutting himself.
Police found more than $70 in coins when they arrested Slack, Burford said. Various items had been moved to the front of the house to be taken out of the house, including a hunting rifle, which led to the possession of a firearm charge.
Slack is a suspect in other crimes in the Sweet Home area, specifically car clouts, which remain under investigation, Burford said.
When Slack got to jail Saturday, Sheriff’s detectives arrested him in connection with the allegedly stolen urns.
Sheriff Tim Mueller said one of the urns was stolen on July 10 and six others were stolen on July 19. The structure containing the urns was damaged during the thefts, he said. Jewelry and family mementos were also stolen.
During the investigation, a gold-for-cash business in Lebanon notified detectives when a man attempted to sell them suspicious gold.
Meuller said detectives were able to locate three of the urns and the remains they contained as well as some jewelry in a slough south of the cemetery. Four of the urns have not been located.
Slack was charged with seven counts of second-degree abuse of a corpse, seven counts of abuse of a memorial to the dead, one count of first-degree theft, one count of criminal second-degree criminal mischief, and two counts of second-degree criminal trespass.
The investigation continues and detectives are still working to recover the four missing urns, Mueller said.
Slack remained lodged at Linn County Jail on Monday.