SOUTH WAYNE - A police station is one of the last places you'd expect a burglary to occur. But that's exactly what happened last week at the South Wayne Police Department.
A village employee discovered last Friday morning that the building had been broken into. Lafayette County Sheriff Scott Pedley received a report of the burglary at about 7:30 a.m. Friday.
Later in the day, two men were arrested following an investigation.
Joshua C. Broge, 20, South Wayne, and Jacob J. Kaempfer, 18, Gratiot, were arrested and tentatively charged with burglary and possession of stolen property, Pedley said.
"It was determined that there had been a forced entry into the building," Pedley said. There was significant damage to the interior of the police department, he added.
In addition to the damage, deputies discovered a gun and a handheld police radio had been removed. The gun and radio were recovered Friday and the two men were arrested. Pedley wouldn't go into details about the investigation, but said there was evidence at the scene that led to the two arrests.
He said the building was very well secured, and it took "quite an effort" from the burglars to break in. There hasn't been much activity at the building since former Police Chief Randall Poirer resigned last spring. Part of the building is used for equipment storage.
Since then, the sheriff's department has increased patrols in South Wayne. During that time, Pedley said, there haven't been any more calls than usual to the village.
The village and sheriff's department reached an agreement in October to have the department provide an officer for the village, similar to the agreement with the Village of Blanchardville. A deputy will be assigned to the village when he completes his field training work, Pedley said. He said the deputy will be available to South Wayne by the end of this month.
A village employee discovered last Friday morning that the building had been broken into. Lafayette County Sheriff Scott Pedley received a report of the burglary at about 7:30 a.m. Friday.
Later in the day, two men were arrested following an investigation.
Joshua C. Broge, 20, South Wayne, and Jacob J. Kaempfer, 18, Gratiot, were arrested and tentatively charged with burglary and possession of stolen property, Pedley said.
"It was determined that there had been a forced entry into the building," Pedley said. There was significant damage to the interior of the police department, he added.
In addition to the damage, deputies discovered a gun and a handheld police radio had been removed. The gun and radio were recovered Friday and the two men were arrested. Pedley wouldn't go into details about the investigation, but said there was evidence at the scene that led to the two arrests.
He said the building was very well secured, and it took "quite an effort" from the burglars to break in. There hasn't been much activity at the building since former Police Chief Randall Poirer resigned last spring. Part of the building is used for equipment storage.
Since then, the sheriff's department has increased patrols in South Wayne. During that time, Pedley said, there haven't been any more calls than usual to the village.
The village and sheriff's department reached an agreement in October to have the department provide an officer for the village, similar to the agreement with the Village of Blanchardville. A deputy will be assigned to the village when he completes his field training work, Pedley said. He said the deputy will be available to South Wayne by the end of this month.