Burglar Gives up after Pepper Spray and Less-Lethal Rounds, Partner Arrested Too

 

Two suspects were apprehended on Tuesday morning after a homeowner away from her home saw them burglarizing her property via her security system, APD reported.

APD was alerted by the homeowner at 8:41 am on Tuesday morning of a burglary in progress on the 2300-block of West 46th Avenue and responded to the scene. “The homeowner stated she was not at home but could see the activity via her security system,” Anchorage police said.

When patrol officers arrived at the scene, they made contact with 28-year-old Eva N. Joe, who was sitting in a Chevy Colorado parked on the street. The officers recognized Eva as they had made contact with her less than an hour before in the same vehicle where she was blocking a driveway. At that contact, she had told the officers that she had run out of gas and was waiting for help to arrive.

When queried at the current scene, she lied to officers and said that she was alone and had not seen anyone go onto the property at the West 46th address. When the officers walked up to the residence, they saw fresh footprints leading to the back yard of the property, to the doors of several sheds and to an outbuilding connected to the house.

When they opened the door, the observed a man inside. “The man refused to obey officer commands, yelled at the officers to shoot him, and then shut the door while remaining inside,” police said.

Several backup officers arrived at the address and a perimeter was set up. As this was taking place, officers ran the vehicle and found that it belonged to 25-year-old Keenan M. C. Wegener. When Wegener’s driver’s license was pulled up it was a match to the suspect the officers saw inside the building. Eva, at that point, became uncooperative and she was taken into custody for questioning.

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Officers gave several commands for Wegener to exit the building, all of which he ignored and pepper spray was deployed. After the spray was deployed, Wegener exited the building and then began to go back inside at which time less-lethal ARWEN (Anti Riot Weapon ENfield) rounds were fired. He went back inside, then a short time later came out and gave himself up.


When patted down, personal property belonging to the homeowner was found on Wegener’s person.

Wegener was taken to the hospital to be medically cleared then both suspects were taken to the department for questioning.

Following the interview, both Wegener and Joe were charged with Burglary II and Wegener was additionally charged with Theft II, Resisting, and Criminal Mischief IV and remanded to the Anchorage Correctional Center to await arraignment.

In the vehicle, officers observed in plain sight needles and several pieces of property that may have been stolen. A search warrant was requested for a thorough search of the vehicle.