The man whom police suspect caused more than $1,000 in damages by breaking into Tracy’s Crab Shack Sunday night — and only walking out with $40 worth of alcohol and $35 in coins — now faces a felony burglary charge.
A Juneau grand jury indicted local resident Michael D. Gallo, 44, Wednesday for second-degree burglary for allegedly breaking into the restaurant, 406 South Franklin St.
According to a police complaint, Gallo forcefully entered the restaurant’s storefront using a bolt cutter, causing approximately $1,155 worth of damage to the door, a window and, when inside, a security camera. The officer who responded to the scene Monday morning used security footage to identify Gallo at the scene around 11 p.m. Sunday night.
“Gallo opened the register, took out the till then looked at the security camera on the wall. He then grabbed it off the wall damaging the camera, which causes the footage (to) end,” Juneau Police Department Officer Alexander Smith wrote in the complaint.
Smith wrote that he knew Gallo from previous police contacts and had an idea of where he might be found.
At approximately 10:37 a.m. Monday, Smith found Gallo under the docks in the downtown business area; Gallo was sleeping on a raised platform by the waterline. Gallo later told Smith that he stole the money to buy drugs, according to the officer’s complaint, and before he was taken to Lemon Creek Correctional Center, he admitted to stealing around $15 in coins. He denied taking any alcohol.
“It’s an unfortunate incident, but there’s not really much to say,” Tracy’s Crab Shack told the Empire via Facebook messenger, declining to comment further.
Gallo also faces a fourth-degree misdemeanor theft charge for the incident.
According to online court records, Gallo has a prior felony conviction of burglary in 2011 in Juneau. That charge stemmed from an incident on Aug. 16, 2010. He pleaded guilty in that case to a class C felony and a misdemeanor theft charge.
He also has two prior misdemeanor convictions, according to court records. One is for violating a domestic violence order (2006) and the other for misdemeanor assault (2007).
Gallo is scheduled to appear for an arraignment in Juneau Superior Court today.
Second indictment
Roger Thode, 49, was indicted Wednesday for felony driving under the influence Saturday at the end of Thane Road. If found guilty, this would be Thode’s fifth drunken driving conviction in the past 20 years.
According to a police complaint by JPD officer John Cryderman, a call came into the department around 9 p.m. about a driver swerving on Thane Road passing Mill Street, causing a driver to fear a head-on collision was going to occur.
Cryderman said he turned his vehicle around after he spotted Thode drifting out of his lane, according to the complaint.
“He had bloodshot and watery eyes, slurred speech and the odor of alcohol on his breath and person,” Cryderman wrote. Thode denied drinking alcohol and said his poor driving was “medication related,” namely because of Valium and Trazodone.
Thode was also driving with a suspended licence during the incident, Cryderman reported.
Online court records show Thode previously pleaded guilty in Ketchikan to driving under the influence twice for separate incidents in 2012, one in July and the other in September. Thode also has convictions for driving under the influence while in Ketchikan from 2006 and 1996.
Thode’s next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 10, but that will likely be vacated in lieu of an arraignment in Juneau Superior Court.
• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.
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