Snow, alert homeowners hamper burglaries

MAT-SU — A pair of unrelated burglaries within a week of each other led to arrests after burglars got stuck in the snow and homeowners surprised them in the act.

According to court documents, the first such burglary was reported shortly before 7 a.m., Feb. 14 on Grover Lane in Palmer.

A man reported that she awoke to commotion in her house. When she went to investigate, two burglars took off running, leaving in her roommate’s Chevy Tahoe. Apparently, the Tahoe wasn’t the burglars’ first choice, writes Alaska State Trooper Investigator Ronald Hayes.

The woman “noticed that her 1999 Ford Escort had been stuck in the driveway at the residence after the suspects had made their getaway,” Hayes wrote.

Missing in the burglary were walrus tusks, two guns, computers, identification cards and 2 ounces of gold.

That same night troopers actually pulled over the Tahoe, but let the driver, Amber Macheras, 40, go, having not heard of the burglary yet.

Palmer police helped troopers track down Macheras at a home on Eagle Avenue. Hayes went to talk to her.

“While talking to her, I observed a small clear plastic bag containing two glass vials sticking out of her pocket. Inv. Michael Peltier, who was also on scene with me, reached over (and) pulled the bag out and observed the vials to contain gold. Each vial was labeled as 1 ounce,” Hayes wrote.

Hayes said he read Macheras her rights then interviewed her for several hours, during which, he says, her story changed a few times. One thing that turned out to be true was that Macheras had driven to the home that was burglarized, but gotten stuck in the snow on the way. She also implicated Matthew Pitts, 30, in the incident as well as a third person, Nathan Olson.

Hayes said he found most of the stuff taken from the Grover Lane home in Pitts’ house. Olson cooperated with troopers and wasn’t charged in the case.

Macheras and Pitts were both charged with multiple theft and burglary counts. As of Monday afternoon, Macheras was being held at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center and Pitts at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility.

The second alleged burglar surprised by his victim was William B. Jehlen, 32, who was arrested Feb. 22 in the Butte.

According to an affidavit from Trooper Nathan Duce, the report of a burglary came in at 1:42 a.m., Feb. 22 on Maud Road. In this instance, the homeowner pulled into his driveway to find Jehlen breaking into his trailer. The homeowner blocked in Jehlen’s vehicle. Jehlen tried to get away anyway, but got stuck in the driveway before taking off on foot.

Duce said there was $225 in stolen stuff in Jehlen’s abandoned vehicle.

The trooper followed footprints away from the scene zigzagging through the woods but still remaining parallel to Maud Road heading toward the Old Glenn Highway.

Troopers stopped once where it appeared Jehlen had tried to break into another home. They stopped again where Duce said he found Jehlen hiding in some bushes.

“Upon announcing my presence as an Alaska State Trooper the male turned to run. The male gave up after approximately five steps and was arrested,” Duce wrote.

Jehlen was charged with burglary, theft, criminal mischief and trespassing. As of Monday afternoon he remained jailed at Palmer Correctional Center.

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