Burglary spree stopped?

An alert patrolman and a few tips from the public may have helped solve a string of burglaries from Big Mountain to Kalispell over the past month.

Frank Scott Corrigeux, 25 of Whitefish, is in jail on a charge of felony possession of stolen property after allegedly having directed five burglaries and storing the stolen property in a shop building.

Two 16-year-old Whitefish boys who detectives think actually carried out the burglaries await action from the Flathead County Attorney's Office.

Bruce Parish, detective commander with the Flathead County Sheriff's Office, said he and the lead detective in the case, Det. Paul Lebert, arrested Corrigeux on Thursday afternoon at the shop on Harmony Road.

Lebert worked with Det. Jeanne Landis on a "pretty intense" investigation into the three suspects over the past week and a half, Parish said.

"We believe [Corrigeux] may have been employed by a company that managed the property on Big Mountain," Parish said Friday. "We think he told them how to break into the place, where to go and how to do it."

The alleged burglary spree started sometime between Dec. 17 and 19, when intruders broke into the Flathead Valley Trap Club. They stole mainly beer, Parish said, but took some high-priced shooting gloves and $140 in cash and "did a lot of criminal mischief."

Then on Dec. 21 or 22, a home on Woodrun Court on Big Mountain was burglarized. Burglars stole several items, including electronics, statues and art prints by C.M. Russell and others. Total loss at what Parish said appeared to be the owner's summer residence was between $50,000 and $60,000.

Three more burglaries, he said, happened within about a week of Christmas.

At the fairgrounds in Kalispell, intruders took tools, computers and other items. In Whitefish, two coffee stands lost signs and other property when they were burglarized.

Also in Whitefish, he said, tools were reported stolen in the area of the Mountain Mall.

Parish said the first big break came when sheriff's patrolman Aaron Westphal was cruising an area where property was being broken into. A car took off after its occupants apparently spotted Westphal, and he gave chase.

When he stopped the vehicle, the three suspects were together in the car.

Working on information from that traffic stop and from tips from the public, the sheriff's office focused its investigation on the man and two juveniles.

"Through the information we got on the traffic stop and the citizen information, we went to the shop on Harmony Road to look for the juveniles," Parish said.

Instead, they found Corrigeux at the shop, with property from all five burglaries including nearly all the items taken in the Big Mountain burglary.

They also found stolen property from earlier Kalispell break-ins. Charges related to that property have not been filed yet.

Authorities are looking into the connection between Corrigeux and the boys.

"We don't know quite how he got hooked up with the kids," Parish said. "Supposedly they just met him a couple weeks before Christmas."

A conviction on felony possession of stolen property carries a maximum penalty of !0 years and $50,000.

The youths are not in custody but are expected to face charges through the county attorney's office.

Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com