During the early morning hours of Monday, the Village Public Safety Officer in Noorvik was alerted to a burglary in progress at the Noorvik Post Office.

The VPSO responded to the scene at the post office at 7 am on June 29th to see a 17-year-old juvenile standing in the bushes near the post office. The teen looked as if he were there as a “look-out,” the trooper dispatch reported.

As he was questioning, detaining, and securing the teen, the VPSO saw activity inside the post office. The officer responded to the building and searched inside, but found no one in the structure. A witness at the scene told the officer that as he was searching one side of the post office, “someone” ran out the opposite door.

Soon, that “someone” returned to the scene, troopers report. That person was identified as 18-year-old Theodore Westlake of Noorvik. Westlake was placed under arrest by the VPSO and the juvenile was released.

Westlake was transported to the Kotzebue Regional Jail where he was held without bail pending arraignment.

Because the postal service is a federal entity, burglary of a post office is a federal crime. The United States Postal Inspectors are investigating the incident in cooperation with AST.

  arrest, burglary, noorvik, post office, theodore westlake, vpso