(Estherville)– Emmet county authorities have arrested to suspects wanted in connection with recent burglaries in Armstrong, Ringsted and Swea City.
The Sheriff’s Office says it all started around midnight last Wednesday when Armstrong Police Chief Craig Merrill found an unattended parked minivan with a number of gas cans around it and two sets of footprints leading away from the vehicle, along with tracks from what appeared to be a golf cart.
Upon investigating authorities determined the vehicle had been stolen from an Armstrong residence. A subsequent search of the residence where the van was parked turned up a large amount of stolen property. 18-year-old Joseph Simenson of Armstrong was then arrested.
A short time later, an Armstrong resident reported seeing someone dressed in black running through their back yard. Authorities eventually tracked down the suspect in a traffic stop on Highway 15. Armstrong police and the Emmet County Sheriff’s Office arrested the suspect, identified as 19-year-old Billy Bishop-Martinez.
Bishop-Martinez and Simensen were booked into the Emmet county jail on several counts of third degree burglary and possession of stolen property…class “D” felonies.
Bond for the two was set at 65-thousand dollars.
