Deschutes SO K-9 helps catch two burglary suspects

Two Bend men who allegedly threw a rock through a sliding glass door to burglarize a home under construction east of town ran when Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies arrived early Thursday. But after deputies heard a rustling in the brush outside, two suspects were caught hiding in the nearby woods with the help of sheriff’s K-9 Ezel and his handler.

Deputies were called to the 63000 block of Old Deschutes Road around 12:40 a.m. on a report of an audible burglary alarm at an unoccupied home still under construction, deputies said.

They arrived to find a rock thrown through the rear sliding-glass door to the home. It was believed the suspects made entry and were still inside, so a perimeter was set up in an attempt to contain the suspects, and K-9 Ezel and his handler, Deputy Jeremiah Johnson, was requested.

Ezel and Johnson first searched the home and did not find the suspects. However, deputies heard someone in the brush a short distance from the home, so Ezel back to search to the northeast and began tracking the suspects about a quarter-mile away, deputies said.

Two suspects, Ty Warfield, 19, and Dylan Snyder, 24, were found in a wooded area about a third of a mile northeast of the home and taken into custody without incident.

Both men were taken to the Deschutes County Jail, charged with first-degree counts of burglary, criminal mischief and criminal trespass and second-degree theft. They originally were held on $45,000 each, deputies said, but jail records showed that reduced to $25,000 after their initial court appearance Thursday, pending a Sept. 9 return to court.

During the K-9 track, deputies said they found evidence the suspects left behind, as well as a flat-screen TV and tools taken from the home. The recovered property was returned to the homeowner.