Suspects Put Three Vehicles in a Ditch

Two aspiring thieves from Waterloo had a little trouble with their endeavor, after getting three vehicles stuck in a ditch, while trying to steal bags of empty cans.

The Bremer County Sheriff and Iowa State Patrol were alerted shortly after 7am Friday, to several vehicles in a ditch, about 3 miles south of Readlyn.

Officers found a passenger car, a Bremer County Roads dump truck, and a Bremer County Roads road grader stuck in the ditch. Two men were still at the scene, trying to operate the grader and the dump truck.

An investigation revealed that 36 year old Michael Eaton and 23 year old Anthony Mann, both of Waterloo, had broken into the Bremer County Roads maintenance shop, located in Readlyn, and stole the dump truck. They drove it to the Community Lutheran School, south of Readlyn. At the school, they stole several bags full of cans, and put them in the truck. However, after leaving the school, they got the dump truck stuck in a ditch.

They returned to the maintenance shop and stole the road grader, attempting to use it to pull the dump truck out of the ditch. But the grader also became stuck.

According to the sheriff, at some point, the passenger car, owned by Eaton's parents, got stuck in the ditch.

The grader and truck, along with the nearby roadway, sustained some damage.

Eaton and Mann were arrested for Burglary 3rd degree, Criminal Mischief 1st degree, and Possession of methamphetamine. The possession charge is the third or subsequent for Eaton, and 2nd offense for Mann. Both were held in the Bremer County jail in Waverly.

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