Suspect Goes to Commit Fireweed Burglary in Stolen Front-End Loader

A 42-year-old man elected to utilize a front end loader as his transportation as he went about burglarizing a Fireweed Lane business on Wednesday morning, APD reported.

At approximately 7:15 am on Wednesday morning, a pedestrian taking their canine out for an early morning walk spotted a broken front window at the Strand Hair Salon as they were passing by and called 911.

Responding officers opened an investigation and soon determined that the burglar had driven a front-end loader to the location, then using a frozen planter pot, broke out the front window and gained entrance. Once inside, the burglar, later identified as 42-year-old Brian Petross, stole several items from the business. After his burglary, Petross drove off in the front-end loader.

As officers were investigating the burglary scene, dispatch received another burglary call and as officers were en route, they observed a front-end loader in a parking lot a couple of blocks from the first burglary scene on the 1000-block of Fireweed.


APD officers performed a traffic stop and Petross was taken into custody and transported to APD for questioning. Police would find that Petross had stolen the front-end loader from a secure lot on the 6200-block of the Old Seward Highway on Saturday.

Petross was jailed on charges of Vehicle Theft I, Burglary II, Theft II, Reckless Driving, and Criminal Mischief III.