Prosecutors have filed charges against two teens and an adult for a burglary last summer at a home-remodeling site in the town of Farmington.
Charged with burglary, theft and criminal damage to property as party to a crime were James J. Buck, 27; Patrick J. Carroll, 17; and Kendall E. Koch, 17; all of Waupaca.
On July 26, 2014, Waupaca County Sheriff’s Deputy Jon Loken was dispatched to a home on Heavens Way in Farmington.
Loken met with the owner who said that when he arrived at his property, he found that someone had gained entry by prying apart a window frame. Inside the house, all the cabinet doors had been opened, tools and other belongings were tossed around the house, and an unsuccessful attempt had been made to break into a locked gun cabinet by sawing off the handle.
Among the stolen items were a 35 mm camera with three lenses, a gold wedding band, six boxes of 12-gauge shells, three bottles of liquor and a 12-pack of beer.
On Sept. 17, Deputy Cameron Durrant emailed information to Loken regarding an underage drinking party on another property in a wooded area on Heavens Way on the night of the burglary. Koch’s grandmother owns the property, and he was living there at the time of the break-in.
A bag had been found near a tent where Koch allegedly held the party. In the bag were shells, alcohol and prescription bottles that were identified as belonging to the burglary victim.
Loken subsequently interviewed a teenager at the Portage County Detention Center. The teen said he had been at the party and about half a dozen of them had gone into the neighbor’s home. He named Koch, Carroll and Buck.