Nine indicted in Three Bears theft

PALMER — Nine people have been charged with a combined 192 felonies stemming from the theft of 38 guns from the Palmer-Wasilla Highway Three Bears grocery store, Alaska State Troopers announced Thursday.

A Palmer Grand Jury indicted the suspects on Thursday. The charges were formally filed in court Friday. Store employees noticed Sept. 18 that the guns were missing. Troopers said at the time that the break-in happened sometime either in the evening of Sept. 17 or the morning of Sept. 18.

Troopers say the defendants are:

• Amber Helmann, 30, of Wasilla, charged with 22 counts of theft by receiving

• Christopher Everly, 18, of Wasilla, charged with 38 counts of theft, and two counts of burglary

• John Stern, 19, of Palmer, charged with 38 counts of theft and two of burglary

• Mitchell Cupp, 19, of Palmer, charged with 38 counts of theft and two of burglary

• Joseph Price, 24, of Palmer, charged with two counts of theft by receiving and one of weapons misconduct

• Joseph Owens, 18, of Palmer, charged with 38 counts of theft and two of burglary

• Laurie Plyler, 24, of Eagle River, charged with two counts of theft by receiving and two of drug misconduct

• Kevin Angel, 29, of Chugiak, charged with two counts of theft by receiving and one evidence tampering

A 16-year-old Palmer boy was also involved in the case and is being charged as a juvenile.

The majority of the stolen firearms have been recovered, but efforts continue to recover all the stolen firearms. The ATF is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to their recovery, as well as the arrest and conviction of the individuals responsible for the theft.

Troopers were noticeably tight-lipped about the investigation, citing the need for secrecy as efforts continue to recover the remainder of the stolen guns.

“I only have information that is in the press release. Sorry,” trooper spokeswoman Elizabeth Ipsen wrote in an e-mail.

One of the questions she couldn’t answer: whether the suspects in the Three Bears burglary were suspected of committing any of the dozen-or-so burglaries that have struck local businesses in recent weeks. Victims include storage units, chainsaw dealers, mattress dealers and a tanning salon. Several businesses along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway have been hit, but some in a spate of recent burglaries have been as far away as Meadow Lakes.

Ipsen did say that the four defendants charged with burglary – Owens, Cupp, Stern and Everly — are the individuals trooper allege broke into Three Bears and stole the firearms.

Given that 38 guns were stolen and only 28 charges of theft by receiving leveled, a reasonable assumption might be that 10 guns are still outstanding. It wouldn’t be uncommon, though, for two people to be charged with theft by receiving in relation to the same stolen property. It also remains to be seen what charges the unnamed teenager will face.

As for who is in jail and who’s at large; Helmann is listed as an inmate at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River, Stern and Cupp are listed as in custody at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility in Palmer. Jail records have no listing for any of the other named suspects.

Troopers say the investigation involved multiple divisions of the agency including patrol troopers from the Mat-Su’s B Detachment, investigators from the Alaska Bureau of Investigation and troopers from the Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit.

Two other law enforcement agencies — the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Palmer Police Department — also helped.

Anyone with information on the crime should contact the Alaska State Troopers at (907) 352-5401 or call the ATF’s toll-free, 24-hour tip line at (800) 283-4867, the ATF Anchorage Alaska Field Office at (907) 271-5701 or Mat-Su Crime Stoppers at 745-4333.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.