BEMIDJI-A Bemidji man pleaded guilty in Beltrami County District Court to burglarizing a home while the owner was sleeping in July.
Jered James Conkle, 19, was arrested July 19 after Bemidji Police tracked his footprints leaving the scene of a burglary on the 900 block of Minnesota Avenue Northwest. Conkle was arrested on a felony second-degree burglary charge and misdemeanor underage consumption. He pleaded guilty to the burglary charge Aug. 3.
According to a statement of probable cause, officers responded to a call at approximately 6:15 a.m. on July 19 where the complainant informed law enforcement she was sleeping in a chair in the living room and woke to find her house had been burglarized. She reported a window to her home was partially opened during the evening, court documents said.
Officers tracked shoe prints to a neighboring address, where they heard banging inside a shed. Conkle was inside the shed, he showed officers his shoe tread, which matched the prints, documents said. Several of the complainant's items, with her name on them, were located inside the shed and in a bag behind a tree near the shed. Officers noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from Conkle, a test administered showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.125.
Conkle is scheduled to appear in Beltrami County District Court for sentencing Sept. 14. He is being held in the Beltrami County Jail on a $30,000 conditional bond. Second-degree burglary carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Underage consumption is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
