Bonners Ferry Local Guide including all of Boundary County Idaho

Teens implicated in back-to-back burglaries

Wednesday, April 4, 2007; DB

Bail was set at $25,000 Tuesday for a Sandpoint teen accused going on a burglary jag with two accomplices last month. Timothy Michael Graul, 18, is charged with one count of burglary and one count of attempted burglary. Sandpoint Police reports indicate William Edward Hoygaard, 17, was arrested on the same charges as Graul, although court documents were not available on Tuesday. A third teen, 15, has also been implicated in the case, but there was no mention of an arrest or charges in available court records and police reports. The break-in and attempted break-in occurred in Sandpoint on March 28, according to charging papers in Graul's case. Graul and Hoygaard reluctantly admitted they were involved when questioned by detectives, police reports said. The burglary attempt was on a home the three teens apparently thought was unoccupied. They were mistaken. "My first reaction was to run out, throw on the porch light and tell 'em to get the heck off the porch," said Gretchen Hellar, who heard commotion and saw three people wearing stocking caps at her front door. But Hellar, who had graduated from the police department's citizen academy just two weeks before the attempted burglary, caught herself. The second session had counseled people on how to avoid becoming a crime victim by suppressing the urge to personally confront strangers with shady intentions and to call in the cavalry instead. Law officers are methodically trained to assess safety threats and keep the situations from escalating and spinning out of control, Hellar said. "I went back into my room, got on the phone and dialed 911. Without going through that course, I probably would have opted for trying to scare them off, which doesn't make sense," said Hellar. The move could have backfired or inadvertently hindered the investigation by running them off before police even had a chance to respond. Although two suspects reportedly managed to slip away, Graul was found a short time later in the neighborhood and fell under immediate suspicion. He was still wearing his hat, but had on a T-shirt in 39-degree weather. Graul, the report said, was called in for a follow-up interview and ultimately admitted that all three of them decided to select a house to burglarize, partly for cash, partly for the thrill of committing the crime. "It was a rush," Graul was quoted as saying during questioning. Hoygaard was also interviewed and reportedly told detectives that he acted as a lookout while the other two tried to force open Hellar's door with a pry bar before moving to another door which was also locked. Graul and Hoygaard also allegedly admitted pulling off the prior burglary of a home whose occupants were away at the time. An item reported stolen from that home was later found on Hellar's lawn, one of the police reports said. - Full Story