A Lonsdale man was charged Wednesday in connection with a residential burglary that reportedly led to a fully involved house fire in Bonnerdale on Sept. 27.
Edward Lou Clark, 33, was taken into custody shortly after 4 p.m. and charged with residential burglary, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. He remained in custody Thursday in lieu of $10,000 bond and is set to appear Oct. 31 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, at 11 a.m. on Sept. 27, 70 West Fire Department was dispatched to 246 Normal Trail, Bonnerdale, to a fully involved house fire. The back door of the residence appeared to show signs of forced entry and 70 West Fire and Garland County Sheriff's Department investigated the fire as a possible arson.
On Sept. 30, Clark was arrested for commercial burglary at 111 Squire Court with Nicholas Mann, 32, who was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, two counts of possession of a firearm by certain persons and possession of a controlled substance. He remained in custody Thursday in lieu of $25,000 bond and is set to appear Nov. 14 in district court.
Mann allegedly told sheriff's investigators and deputies that Clark had gone over to his former boss' house and taken some items, which he gave to Brandon Lloyd Huggs, 32. On Oct. 5, Huggs was arrested on a parole hold, possession of firearms by certain persons and resisting arrest at his Cypress Street residence. Several reportedly stolen items were recovered from his residence, which he said were given to him by Clark.
On Monday, the victim positively identified items recovered from Huggs' residence as those taken from the Bonnerdale residence.
On Oct. 18, Mann allegedly told Investigator Brandon Huckaba that Clark talked to him about breaking into the victim's business and residence, but did not think Clark was going to do it. Clark talked about going through a "doggy door" to get inside the residence.
On the day of the fire, Mann said he fell asleep on his couch after making sure his children were on a school bus. When he woke up, Clark was outside his shop with cash, a 12-gauge pump shotgun, a .22-caliber rifle, a handgun, two laptops and silver dinnerware items. Clark allegedly told Mann that the items came from the victim's residence.
Mann said Clark also told him after he "ransacked" the victim's house, "he had no other choice but to burn the residence." Mann told Clark he could not leave the stolen items at his house.
Huggs allegedly stated he did not know where the silver dinnerware items and the two laptops came from that Clark brought to him. Huggs said Clark came over to his residence a week prior to Huggs' arrest and that Clark was acting nervous, quickly entering and exiting Huggs' apartment. Clark left the items at his residence in exchange for a tattoo at a later date.
Local on 10/21/2016