Theft suspects arrested in Wasilla

WASILLA — A 22-year-old man who Alaska State Troopers say had been stealing from his brother, grandmother and uncle was jailed on numerous counts Saturday.

Troopers with the department’s Criminal Suppression Unit tracked Raymond Keown III down after nearly a month of investigation. They first heard about him May 12, according to court documents that Alaska State Trooper Bruce Weight filed in the case against Keown.

Members of Keown’s family called to say that their front door had been kicked in and a television stolen. When troopers went to investigate that crime, Keown’s brother told troopers about his Xbox, which had been missing since May 1.

“(He) reported his brother, Raymond Keown III, had taken the Xbox One. He knew this because he had found the Xbox One and accessories at Alaska Fast Cash (pawn shop). (The brother) said Raymond did not have permission to take the Xbox One or to pawn it. I seized the Xbox One and accessories from Alaska Fast Cash, including the pawn slip.”

Keown’s name was on that slip.

“While at Alaska Fast Cash I observed that Raymond III had also pawned a Chinese SKS rifle. Raymond’s grandmother… stated Raymond III did not own a SKS rifle. (She) stated she owned an SKS rifle and it should have been in her closet,” Weight wrote. “I asked (her) to check and see if the rifle was still in her closet. It was not.”

Five days after investigating the kicked-in door, Weight got a call from Keown’s uncle about stolen property.

The uncle reported he’d parked his van at the grandmother’s house with some stuff stored inside.

“He had recently checked on it and discovered two air compressors had been taken from the rear of the van,” Weight writes.

To get to the air compressors, whoever broke in had to damage the divider between the driver’s area and the back. The uncle valued the air compressors at $250.

Weight writes that on June 5 he found Keown at a home on Williwaw Way.

“Raymond admitted to stealing the Xbox One from (his brother’s) room. He admitted to stealing his grandmother’s SKS rifle. He admitted to stealing some of her jewelry and a car battery charger... He admitted to stealing the air compressors from his uncle’s van,” Weight wrote.

Weight writes that he was able to recover the Xbox, the rifle, the battery charger and the jewelry. He writes that Keown told him he traded away the air compressors and didn’t know where they were. He denied kicking in the door and stealing the television, though.

While at the house, Weight also met Makenzie Langendorf, 18, of Wasilla, who was wanted in connection with a burglary and theft of a check, which troopers say she later cashed. She was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $500 bail charged with theft and fraudulent use of an access device. As of Monday afternoon, she’d made bail and been released.

As for Keown, troopers charged him with burglary, theft, forgery and criminal mischief and say that “investigation into other crimes is ongoing.” He was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility, where his bail was eventually set at $7,500 with an order he find a third party to watch him before he can be released. As of Monday afternoon, he was still incarcerated.

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