Two New York Mills men were arrested at 4:30 a.m. today after allegedly engaging in a spree of burglary, vandalism and reckless driving in East Otter Tail County in the early morning hours.
Kevin Gene Engelke and Douglas Lyon Dabill, both 23, are suspected of stealing three vehicles and vandalizing property in and around New York Mills. Chief Sheriff's Deputy Stacey Paulseth estimated that the two caused more than $10,000 in damage.
At about 2:30 a.m. today, a sheriff's deputy found a pickup truck in a ditch (a second was later located nearby) and recognized it as belonging to a property owner in New York Mills. Following up on the investigation, the city's police discovered that the truck had been stolen from a storage shed near the Co-op Granary.
Law enforcement then discovered that the East Otter Tail County Landfill had been broken into, and a pickup truck and a backhoe had been stolen. One of the vehicles had been driven straight through a door in the building it was kept in. The second pickup truck was found near the first, and the backhoe was found flipped on its side on a township road. The vehicles and the burglarized buildings had also been vandalized.
Engelke and Dabill were found later that morning walking on railroad tracks in New York Mills. They attempted to escape from police, but were eventually apprehended. When interviewed, they allegedly admitted to being responsible for the earlier burglaries.
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It is not known why the men allegedly committed the crimes or if alcohol was involved.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
