Inside Job Determined in Ag West Burglary

Two of the suspects had been fired within the last month, the third quit on Saturday

Salem-News.com

(RICKREALL) - When the operators of Ag West showed up for work on Monday morning, November 6th, they found the business was burglarized sometime over night. The Polk County Sheriffs’ Office was immediately notified and began investigating the burglary as a possible “inside” job as a business key was used to unlock the door and the alarm had been turned off with the correct code.

During the investigation, the detectives interviewed current and past employees and ended up arresting four male suspects in connection to this burglary.

Three of the suspects were ex-employees of Ag West. Two of the suspects (Derick Sperry and a juvenile) had been fired within the last month before the burglary and the third (Nicholas Brewster) quit on Saturday, November 4, 2006. The fourth suspect, Brandon Walker, was an associate of Mr. Sperry, and he was the suspect that actually entered the building. The three others waited outside for him to return.

Three of the suspects were lodged at the Polk County Jail and the fourth was lodged at the Yamhill County Juvenile Detention Center. All suspects were charged with Burglary in the Second Degree and Theft in the First Degree.

At the time Mr. Sperry was contacted by detectives, he was in possession of a handgun. It was found that this handgun had been stolen and he was charged with an additional count of Theft in the First Degree.

“Due to the cooperation of Ag West employees working with our detectives, we were able to make this arrest and get a stolen handgun off the streets”, stated Sheriff Bob Wolfe.

Arrested Subjects:

Walker, Brandon A. 20 years old Dallas, Oregon Charges: Burg II and Theft 1

Brewster, Nicholas G. 19 years old Dallas, Oregon Charges: Burg II and Theft 1

Sperry, Derick R. 19 years old Dallas, Oregon Charges: Burg II and 2 counts of Theft 1