Casper police have arrested five people allegedly involved in a Natrona County-wide robbery, drug and burglary conspiracy, according to a news release.

The case began earlier this week when a detective was assigned to investigate 13 vehicle burglaries and one robbery of a man sitting in his vehicle, according to an affidavit filed in Natrona County Circuit Court.

Video surveillance showed an individual, recognized as Jason Jennings fro previous police contact.

On Wednesday, officers found Jennings in a parked vehicle in the 100 block of West J Street. Next to the vehicle were items that appeared to be stolen including vehicle registrations, insurance and personal items. Police contacted a person identified by her vehicle registration and she said she didn't know Jennings.

Nearby was a pickup that had been previously reported as stolen.

Police took Jennings to the police station where he was advised of his Miranda rights.

He told police he was addicted to methamphetamine and gambling, and admitted to a number of the crimes.

Police executed a search warrant for Jennings' vehicle and found key fobs and a black facemark.

Other investigations led to identifying other suspects, including Keith Crakaal and Megann Holzer, both of whom were seen in Mills on Thursday afternoon.

Holzer was driving a blue sport utility vehicle with Crakaal as a passenger. They led law enforcement on a chase into Casper where she crashed the SUV into a tree in the 1100 block of South Wolcott Street.

After being treated at the Wyoming Medical Center and released, she told police the purest was, "'Like being in Grand Theft Auto.'"

Two other suspects were arrested on Thursday.

The reported and related crimes consisted of 18 auto burglaries, six stolen vehicles, one robbery, multiple instances of unauthorized uses of a credit card, seven stolen loaded guns, illegal drugs, and aggravated burglaries.

Law enforcement does believe the suspects are related to multiple other, potentially unreported, crimes that have occurred recently within our community.

All of the reported stolen vehicles have been recovered. Three of the guns have been confirmed as stolen, four are suspected of being stolen.

These are the suspects and the charges against them as read by Natrona County Circuit Court Judge Michael Patchen at their initial appearances on Friday:

CRAKAAL, KEITH - MUG
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Keith Crakaal, 27: one count of aggravated burglary; one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary; two felony counts of wrongful taking of property; one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance; and one count of eluding. Patchen set his bond at $50,000 cash only.

 

 

 

HODGINS, KRISTOPHER - MUG
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Kristopher Hodgins, 32: one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary; two misdemeanor counts of wrongful taking of property; and one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance. Patchen set his bond at $25,000 cash only.

 

 

 

 

HOLZER, MEGANN - MUG
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Megan Holzer, 22: one felony count of aggravated eluding, punishable by up to five years imprisonment; one felony count of being an accessory after the fact, punishable by up to three years imprisonment; and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving. Patchen set her bond at $10,000 cash only.

 

 

 

JENNINGS, JASON - MUG
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Jason Jennings, 25: four counts of aggravated burglary, each punishable by five to 25 years imprisonment; four counts of burglary, each punishable by up to 10 years of imprisonment; and four counts of wrongful taking of property, each punishable by up to 10 years of imprisonment. Patchen set his bond at $75,000 cash only.

 

 

 

RICKERT, DANIELLE - MUG
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Danielle Rickert, 24: one felony count of credit card fraud; two misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance; one count of forgery; one count of conspiracy to commit forgery. Because there were two separate charging documents, Patchen set her bond at $4,000.

 

 

 

Casper police said in most instances, the suspects burglarized or stole vehicles in the homeowners' driveways that were either unlocked, or had valuables and guns in plain sight.

These suspects have admitted to selling the items they burglarized and using stolen credit cards. If you believe to be in possession of stolen property or your credit card has been fraudulently used, please contact law enforcement.

If you are missing property, to include firearms, please contact law enforcement immediately to report it. Criminals steal guns to commit crimes. Do not give them that opportunity.

This is an active and ongoing investigation. More information will be released as it becomes available.

The Casper Police Department is asking the public if anyone has information about these crimes. If you do, contact the department at (307) 235-8278, make an anonymous tip through CrimeStoppers of Central Wyoming by calling (307) 577-8477, or report online
at crime-stoppers.com.

Other agencies involved in the investigation were the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office, Mills Police Department, Evansville Police Department and Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.

 

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