Video review helps police find burglary suspect

Kelly Kenoyer

Of The New Era

Sweet Home police last week arrested a Milwaukie man on a burglary charge within four hours of getting a report of a break-in on Monday, Aug. 3.

Brian Clement, 49, was arrested after the owner of A Squared Storage, at 1294 44th Ave., called police after looking through footage. The owner, who asked not to be named, said she noticed a storage unit with a door ajar and decided to investigate. She found that several units had been opened, including empty units, and that locks had been cut on three that were rented.

“We have really good cameras down there,” the owner said, adding that she spent several hours looking through footage to find the burglars. “We had his vehicle and his face.”

The owner said a second person may have also been involved in the burglary, but they were harder to see in the footage because they stayed in the shadows “as a lookout.”

After police had a visual ID of the suspect, an officer spotted a pickup reportedly used during the burglary and initiated a traffic stop, as the pickup didn’t have any license plates, police said. Inside the truck, the officer spotted a compound bow matching the description of a bow reported stolen from the storage unit, and arrested Clement Monday evening on probable cause for three counts of second-degree burglary, second-degree criminal mischief, possession of a burglary tool, and first-degree theft. He was lodged at Linn County Jail.

It all happened within five hours of the storage company calling the police.

Police Chief Jeff Lynn said “security footage played a major role.

“We’re finding that more and more, you know, more people, more businesses have video surveillance available, and it just really makes things so much easier and go so much quicker.”

In many cases, Lynn said, officers can identify “frequent flyers” – individuals who have frequent interaction with police – from camera footage. In this case, however, it was the suspected burglar’s distinctive vehicle, a 1994 Dodge pickup, that helped officers arrest him.

Some of the stolen materials were recovered, but a lot is still missing, Lynn said.

A press release from SHPD listed the missing items as “the items reported stolen in the burglary were a compound bow, a range finder, ammunition, a Cochran knife, blue jeans, a duffel bag, multiple fishing rods, and reels.” The total losses are valued at $5,500.

The owners said she’s “glad” one suspect was caught, and she’s “hoping we can recover most of the things that were stolen.”

The Sweet Home Police Department is requesting that anyone with information on the location of the stolen items contact Officer Sasha McDonald at (541) 367-5181.

Total
0
Share