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Three days ago, Ronald J. Brennan, 44 of Omak had been arrested for burglary and theft after he had been caught by Deputy Connie Humphrey coming out of Lafferty's Storage Complex on Rodeo Trail Road. Over the last two days search warrants have been executed on Brennan's vehicle that was impounded and at his residence. Stolen property was located at both locations.

Stolen equipment was located with the impounded vehicle. The stolen equipment had come from Tollefson Construction, who had a pickup and equipment stolen a few weeks back.

At the residence a large amount of stolen property was recovered including a brand new riding lawnmower, valued in the thousands of dollars, which had been stolen from Twisp. Also an entire pop machine was located at the residence which had been stolen from Okanogan. Additional tools and wire were also found at the residence which belonged to Tollefson Construction.

Several other items have been recovered and the investigation is continuing. It is believed that Brennan and others had been stealing stuff here in Okanogan as well as other areas of the county. We believe a large amount of the stolen items had been going over to the coast, which is where Brennan is originally from. We are also investigating several other thefts that Brennan may be involved in which occurred along the route to the west side of the State. We are also attempting to track where some of the stolen property may have gone and we have been in touch with law enforcement agencies on the coast.

There are several victims in this case which are spread over a large area and we know that Brennan had dealt with a large amount of people through his scrap metal business he was running on Nichols Road. If anyone has any additional information on Brennan, we are asking them to please contact the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Frank T. Rogers

*******************ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE**************

On 10-28-08 at around 12:22 AM, Deputy Connie Humphrey was patrolling past Lafferty's Storage Complex on Rodeo Trail Road when she observed a vehicle parked on the south side of the complex with it's lights off. Deputy Humphrey felt that something was out of place and turned around to go back and investigate. As she turned around the suspect vehicle lights came on and the vehicle pulled out onto the roadway and began to drive away.

Deputy Humphrey stopped the vehicle, which was a van with a trailer carrying a Kubota tractor. During the course of the investigation the two occupants of the vehicle gave Deputy Humphrey several stories, which did not match. The owner of the storage complex was called to the scene and confirmed that the Kubota tractor was in fact his.

There were several other items in the vehicle and the trailer which may possibly be stolen from other locations. The investigation will continue today to determine where the other items may have come from. The two suspects had in fact entered into the storage area and stole the tractor. Deputy Humphrey did an excellent job on this case and a real heads up to figure something wasn't right when she saw the vehicle. Very good police work.

Arrested at the scene were Ronald J. Brennan, 44 of Omak and Jason R. Kaestner, 20 of Marysville.

Brennan moved to Okanogan County earlier this year and is a Level 3 Sex Offender.

Brennan was booked on the charges of Burglary II, Theft I, Possession of Stolen Property and driving while his license was suspended in the third degree.

Kaestner was booked on charges of Burglary II, Theft I and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Sheriff Frank T. Rogers