by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Marcus and Sarah Weyh of Rice had a rude awakening recently when they discovered their home had been burglarized multiple times in the past four months – not by some sinister stranger but by a friend Marcus had known for 20 years.
The Weyhs had another rude awakening when the culprit was released on $3,000 bail on July 25 from the Benton County Jail, despite the fact the man had violated the terms of his release after being charged earlier with another, unrelated felony.
Yet another rude awakening happened when the Weyhs, who were supposed to be notified immediately if and when the burglar was released, weren’t notified. They found out through another source the day after he made his bail amount and left the jail. The jail staff told the Weyhs the lack of a call to them was because of “computer problems” that day.
“I cannot adequately explain the hurt, anger and terror I am experiencing because of these burglaries,” Sarah Weyh said. “I feel violated. When my husband is not home at night, I tense up at the sound of every vehicle that passes my house. I am mourning the loss of thousands of precious memories of my two sons that have been stolen from me. My computer and my camera were some of the items taken that have not yet been found. My son’s baptism, Christmas, videos of hearing my sons’ heartbeats for the first time, birthdays, splash-pad videos . . . They are all gone.”
The Weyhs have two boys – Carter, 2; and Cameron, 8 months.
The Weyhs both believe home burglaries are just not treated as the serious crimes they are.
“Home burglaries do not rank very high on the priority list for law enforcement,” Sarah said. “But the victims of these crimes deserve better. We deserve to be heard and to relay our fears. Criminals who are out on bail and who commit more crimes should not be given the right to bail again. There is something wrong with the system.”
Most of all, the Weyhs said they believe the Rice Police Department needs more patrol officers and – ideally – a professional crime investigator.
Discovery
A couple of weeks ago, Sarah Weyh went to the hospital for surgery and stayed overnight. Husband Marcus was with her most of the time but had to go home briefly.
Back home, the next day, Marcus went into the living room to get their laptop computer, which was hidden behind a chair to keep the boys away from it. To his surprise, the laptop was not in its place. He looked around the house – no laptop.
In searching for the laptop, the Weyhs kept being stunned by how many other items were gone: a high-tech camera, an iPad, a computer tablet, an archery bow, a power trimmer, a weed whacker and an air rifle. Some of those items were so concealed from view the burglar, they figured, must have spent a lot of time in the house the night he took the goods.
But they could not figure out how a burglar managed to break in. When they got back from the hospital, all the doors were securely locked, just as they were when they left the house. The garage door, too, was securely closed.
Then, after much pondering, the “unthinkable” began to dawn on Marcus. Many months ago, he was in the process of fixing his automatic garage door. A friend brought him a “universal” garage-door opener for temporary use.
“Could it be . . . ?” Marcus began to think, not really wanting to come to the drastic conclusion. “Could it possibly be him that did it?”
Unfortunately, the answer was yes.
The Weyhs called the Rice Police Department, and the lengthy interviews began.
The Rice police applied for search warrants and received them. In St. Cloud, the culprit’s car was noticed and was given over to the Rice police. One of the keys the perpetrator carried was a key to the Weyhs’ house.
Upon further investigation, it was learned the burglar, a 40-year-old man, had pawned many items stolen from the Weyhs’ home. He pawned them in pawn shops throughout a wide area, including in Little Falls and Staples. Many items, including the Weyhs’ laptop containing so many precious memories, have not been located or recovered.
What stunned the Weyhs most, what made their blood run cold, is the so-called friend had been stealing items from their house since last April. He knew exactly when the home would be vacant and would then make his felonious raids upon the house. The neighbors told the Weyhs recently they had seen the man drive up and enter the home quite often – so often, in fact, they had begun to think it was Marcus’s brother or some other close relative.
All of those days, weeks, months when the Weyhs were being kind to the friend, he had been stealing from them right and left. Upon learning the ugly truth, both felt violated, used, disgusted.
Sarah put the man’s photo on Facebook and warned as many people as possible about the burglar’s sly tactics.
False friend
The burglar who acted like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – good friend one moment, nasty thief the next – Marcus met and befriended 20 years ago when both lived in Sauk Rapids.
Marcus would see him now and then, but the man would seem to “disappear” for long stretches throughout the years.
During the time of the burglaries at the Weyh home, the man had been living out of his vehicle throughout the area. The Weyhs figure he was stealing and pawning items from them and most likely other people to get some living money.
Marcus said the man also had a long-time alcohol- and drug-abuse problem.
An omnibus hearing is set for later this month for the man, who has been charged with second-degree burglary.
The Weyhs intend to be in the courtroom that day, as well as subsequent court appearances; they want to be sure they are there to see justice done.
Rice police
The Weyhs were impressed by how the Rice police handled the case, spending many hours asking questions, taking information, doing investigations, searching for items and more.
“Officer Suzy Dimaggio-Boom and Officer Brent Curtis did amazing jobs,” Sarah said. “They were very helpful and were right on top of it.”
However, the Weyhs both wish those officers could have spent more time patrolling rather than having to be caught up in the investigative work in the burglary case.
“This city needs more patrol officers,” Sarah said. “I suppose that would mean more taxes, but it would be worth it. It would be so good if we could get an officer to do investigations. That would free up time for the patrol officers.”
Currently, the Rice police force has a chief, two full-time officers and one part-time. The Weyhs would like to see at least one more full-time officer, and even better two or three more.
At that point, Marcus pointed to a house down the street in their housing development.
“See that red house over there?” he asked. “Well, that was burglarized twice in the past year.”
People who live in small towns like Rice can develop a false sense of security, both of the Weyhs emphasized. Often, burglars or other criminals come from bigger cities and commit crimes in small towns because they know the people there will be less “on-guard,” leaving their defenses down.
The Weyhs are thinking about addressing the Rice City Council soon to raise police and local crime issues.
Sarah and Marcus Weyh
