Juneau Police Department officers arrested a suspect in the Monday morning burglary of the Bullwinkle’s Pizza Parlor in the Mendenhall Valley, JPD announced.
Willis “Billy” Austin Ehlers, 37, was arrested Wednesday afternoon and charged with felony second-degree burglary, felony second degree theft, and felony third-degree criminal mischief, said Lt. Krag Campbell in a news release. After allegedly breaking into Bullwinkle’s, police say Ehlers exited out the back of the store and ran into the woods with $1,500 in stolen goods. Officers searching the area found clothing and the stolen merchandise there.
“There was information obtained from the clothing that led back to him,” Campbell said.
Ehlers allegedly stole a number of consumer electronic items from a vending machine. After getting a warrant, JPD detectives located and detained him near the 4200 block of Mendenhall Loop Road. Ehlers was taken to the police station, questioned, charged and taken to Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
“Sometimes all the pieces fall in real quick and you make an arrest. Our concern for someone breaking in like this is that it’s a serious crime,” Campbell said. “Usually people who behave in this manner continue to do it. The longer you take, they’re gonna hit a place in another couple days. It was great work by the officers and detectives.”
• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or lockett@juneauempire.com.
