Four homes hit in one day
Police say a New London couple are responsible for a burglary spree that hit four homes in one day.
Shane A. Heuer, 23, and Allison M. Fields, 22, are charged with three counts of burglary, one count of attempted burglary, three counts of theft and two counts of criminal damage to property.
Heuer is also charged with felon in possession of a firearm because he was convicted of burglary and theft in October 2012. He subsequently spent a year in jail.
At 2:18 p.m. Friday, April 1, Waupaca County Sheriff’s Deputy Pat Gorchals was dispatched to a home on Oakwood Pass in Mukwa. He spoke with a resident who said someone entered her locked house between noon and 2:15 p.m. and stole her computer equipment.
Gorchals reported finding a footprint on the door near the handle.
At 2:37 p.m. that same day, a man called New London police and reported that someone attempted to break into his neighbor’s home near the intersection of Beacon Avenue and Oshkosh Street.
Officer Brody Erickson met with the caller, who said he saw a vehicle pull into his neighbor’s driveway. A man dressed in a gray and black flannel jacket exited the vehicle, then walked around to the back and began pounding the patio door with a large rock. He said he yelled at the man, who responded by saying, “I’m going to kill him.”
The caller told Erickson he thought the man was high on drugs or intoxicated because he slurred his words.
As the suspect was driving away, the man took a photo of his silver vehicle and the license plate number. There was also a woman in the car, according to the criminal complaint.
At 3:42 p.m. Friday, Gorchals and Detective Sgt. Cameron Durrant were dispatched to a home on County Trunk W in the town of Caledonia.
The resident reported someone used a rock to break through the patio door.
Someone had entered the house and ransacked the bedroom. Medications, cash, jewelry and a safe with credit cards and personal documents were stolen.
Later that same day, Gorchals and Detective Sgt. John Mocadlo responded to a burglary complaint on Klatt Road in Mukwa.
Someone had smashed out the glass on the back door. Police found blood stains they said belonged to the suspect.
Several drawers were taken from a jewelry box and several guns were stolen from a gun cabinet.
A video surveillance system at the house captured images of a silver two-door car pulling into the driveway. A man wearing blue jeans and a brown, gray and black checkered jacket exited the vehicle. He is seen on the video walking around to the back house, where he picked up a brick and pounded on the glass door until he shattered it. He is also seen loading guns into the trunk of the car.
That same afternoon, New London Police Chief Jeff Schlueter located a silver vehicle with the same license plate number in a driveway at Fields’ home on Smith Street.
Schlueter activated his emergency lights, radioed dispatch, approached the vehicle and rapped on the driver’s window.
The driver, later identified as Heuer, looked at Schlueter and started to open the car door.
“As he opened the door, Chief Schlueter saw a gun on his lap,” the complaint said. “Chief Schlueter drew his duty gun and pointed it at Shane’s head, instructing him not to move.”
Schlueter took the gun from Heuer’s lap and placed it on the trunk of the car. No ammunition was in the gun.
Heuer was taken into custody. He had blood on his wrists and jewelry and cash in his pockets, police said.
More guns, a safe, jewelry boxes and pill bottles were found in the vehicle.
At 5 p.m. Friday, April 1, Gorchals and Mocadlo interviewed Heuer at the county jail.
According to the criminal complaint, Heuer said he picked homes at random. He said Fields just sat in the car while he broke into the homes.
“He said he was high on drugs and couldn’t remember all the details,” the complaint said.