Two teens charged with felony theft

By Janine Anderson

Thursday, April 26, 2007 2:27 AM CDT

Journal Times

NORWAY - Two teenagers face felony charges after allegedly going on a stealing spree through Town of Norway subdivisions.

James J. Mielke, 17, Waterford, and Jeremy L. Schorle, 17, Wind Lake, are charged with three counts of theft of movable property as party to the crime. If convicted, each could face up to $45,000 in fines and 11 1/2 years imprisonment. The two are accused of taking thousands of dollars in items from cars.

A third person involved, a 16-year-old boy, is not being named because he has not been charged as an adult. He was taken to juvenile detention following the traffic stop in which the three were taken into custody.

Sheriff's deputies were called to the 7100 block of Friisgard to investigate suspicious activity. An area resident said he saw three male subjects looking around his neighbors' cars with flashlights. When they saw him they fled into a nearby wooded area and drove away.

The man said he jumped in his car and followed them, still talking to dispatch. When deputies arrived they saw a sergeant had stopped a pickup truck, and the deputies then stopped a black sedan which was following the truck.

The man driving the sedan told deputies he was the one who had called dispatch, and said the occupants of the truck are the ones he saw digging through his neighbors' cars.

Mielke told investigators that they decided to look through cars and steal spare change, radar detectors, CDs, or anything else valuable that they could sell or use themselves. Schorle said they took a Game Boy, CD player and a bag of pills. He also said he would pay restitution.

Owners of several cars in the area reported cash, change, stereo face plates and CDs were missing from their vehicles.

Special Offer: Get 5 Weeks of the Journal Times for $7!