After a Manhunt Both Suspected Lolo Burglars are now in Custody
After a tense manhunt that lasted several days, Missoula County Sheriff T.J. McDermott announced that the second suspect sought for multiple armed break-ins and burglaries in Lolo was taken into custody without incident late on Tuesday morning.
Captain Dave Conway provided background of the investigation.
“Late Thursday night into early Friday morning, these two individuals basically went all throughout the local community breaking into cars and breaking into garages, committing residential burglaries,” said Conway. “There was some video footage from some of the homeowners that showed that they were armed, so we took all the necessary precautions and notified the community of the dangers that we're facing. Ultimately, we were able to identify them through the help of the community.”
The two suspects were identified as 19 year-old Scout Moon French and 19 year-old Treylind James Lafley.
Conway said French was apprehended by the Missoula Police Department on Monday and Lafley was taken into custody at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
“That was by the Missoula City Police Department on a traffic stop where they were able to identify him or at least some of his associates going out in traffic stop and place him under arrest without incident,” he said. “Late yesterday, even as we put out earlier in a press release, we conducted a search warrant at an address that we had for him in the West Riverside area and he had fled that address prior to our arrival but he knew that we were looking for him and today he turned himself in.”
Conway said the teamwork displayed by all law enforcement agencies and the public made the successful arrests possible.
“We put a lot of hours and a lot of work into this case and we’re really proud of our detective and patrol divisions,” he said. “I'm also very happy with the assistance that we got with our law enforcement partners, and particularly with the community and the vigilance that they displayed, and all of the tips that we were able to get from the community which ultimately led to the second suspect turning himself in without incident.”
Both French and Lafley are currently in the Missoula County Jail on multiple charges of aggravated burglary, felony criminal endangerment and theft.
French will appear in Missoula District Court on Thursday, while Lafley is now in the Missoula County Detention Center.
KEEP READING: 50 community resources supporting Americans financially impacted by COVID-19