Trail in snow leads to theft arrests

WASILLA — Shoeprints in the snow, a stakeout and a couple of surreptitiously searched garbage bags led to the arrest of a man Alaska State Troopers believe was responsible for at least one commercial theft, according to court files.

In a court case against Randy Keel, 33, of Wasilla, Trooper Tony Wegrzyn wrote that shortly after 10 a.m., Nov. 9 Wasilla police officers investigated a theft at a fabrication shop on Sun Mountain Avenue. Thieves broke in through the garage door and stole tools, including air tools, wrenches and a socket set. All told, it was a $2,145 loss for the company.

The Wasilla officer followed footprints from the shop to the parking lot of an apartment complex on Quiet Circle.

“The tracks became disturbed by vehicle traffic in the parking lot and he could not determine where the tracks left from there,” Wegrzyn wrote.

The trooper said that the same day he was doing a stakeout at the complex as part of a different investigation.

At 12:30 p.m., he watched a man later identified as Keel toss two garbage bags into the Dumpster.

Wegrzyn wrote that when he looked inside there were only two bags and they looked to be the same two Keel dumped. Inside was a pair of Etnies sneakers that matched the size and pattern of the prints the Wasilla officer followed away from the crime scene.

Also in the bags was a power drill with a construction company’s name on it.

That was enough evidence for a warrant, and later that day law enforcement searched Keel’s apartment, turning up only one of the tools reportedly stolen from the shop.

But the shop owner, upon further inspection, found other things missing — a welding extension cable, bag of tools and a rifle — that were spotted on that first search.

So officers went back and found that bag, but the rifle and most of the cable were gone.

Keel initially told Wegrzyn that the bag of tools was his, but later claimed he’d found it in a ditch behind the apartment building, according to the affidavit. As for the rifle, he said he’d found it on a trail and that since the first search he’d put it back where he found it.

The rifle had already been sold twice, by then but troopers tracked it down. The man who bought it on that second transaction handed it over immediately.

According to a trooper press release, a second man, Rory Vail, 22, of Wasilla, was also arrested in the case. The affidavit in Keel’s file makes no mention of Vail and Vail’s court file was unavailable Monday.

That press release also says that all-told $10,000 worth of tools were recovered. The items recovered by the time Keel was arrested did not total up to that much.

Vail is charged with theft and evidence tampering with bail set at $10,000. Keel was charged with those counts as well as one of burglary with bail set at $30,000. Both were still in jail as of Monday afternoon.

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