Numerous break-ins reported early Thursday morning

By KENT THOMPSON
Law enforcement in Humboldt County responded to a string of burglaries that occurred within the last 24 hours.
One was reported in Humboldt. That was reported on Wednesday morning, Nov. 2, at 7:28 a.m. A Union Pacific Railroad service truck was parked overnight at the AmericInn Hotel, 307 13th St. N. If was reported that hand-held power tools were taken from the vehicle.
Early Thursday morning, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) reported that other commercial service trucks were broken into in Gilmore City.
“There was a MidAmerican Energy service truck parked at a private residence that had power tools taken,” HCSO Chief Deputy Cory Lampe reported.
Also sometime late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning, two boom trucks were parked at an electrical substation just north of Gilmore City. Both trucks reported the theft of tools. There are on the Pocahontas County side of Gilmore City and the Pocahontas County Sheriff’s Department is investigating that case.

String of break-ins reported in Livermore Thursday
Six confirmed break-ins were reported in the early morning hours of Thursday, Nov. 3 in Livermore.
The location with the largest amount of damage was the Livermore Fastway convenience store at 501 3rd Avenue. A burglar(s) broke in through a side door. Cash and electronic equipment were taken and there was extensive damage.
There were also several break-ins or attempted break-ins reported on 4th Street, Livermore’s main east/west street downtown.
Livermore Mayor and co-owner of the Smoldering Cigar, 411 4th St., Seana (pronounced Shawna) Bolen, reported that she was traveling through town at 12:48 a.m., on her way home after working in Des Moines. Bolen said she saw nothing suspicious, but 30 minutes later, a man was caught on a security camera rummaging about the store Bolen owns with her husband, Brian.
The thief broke through a glass on the front door and reached inside and unlocked a dead bolt lock after attempts to jimmy the door with a crowbar failed.
Cash was about the only thing taken at the cigar store and there was little interior damage, outside the door, which will have to be replaced.
It was reported that the burglar may have left physical or forensic evidence when he ran into a glass door to the humidor room.
Bolen said her daughter was leaving for work at 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning and was going to get gas at the Livermore Fastway when she realized the Fastway store had been robbed and called her parents.
Seana said her husband’s Lorax store alarm dinged his phone at 1:25 a.m. “He was asleep and probably just thought it was me, because I call when I get home late,” S. Bolen said.
The burglar attempted to break into the Post Office next door, 407 4th Ave., but was unsuccessful. There are bars on the windows.
Postmaster Jennifer Vitzthum reported that the incident did not affect mail pickup or delivery. The lobby, which is open 24-7, was not entered or damaged. People could still pick up their mail Thursday morning although the service window was closed due to the investigation.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office had deputies on the scene and Vitzthum said the postal inspector from Des Moines would be arriving later Thursday morning.
A can redemption center and a couple of storage buildings were also targets.
The HCSO has not released a value of merchandise taken and total amount of damage.
It is not known if the crimes are related. Lampe said there were some break-ins in the Renwick area the previous week.
“We are collecting evidence and a list of items stolen. We are in the early stages of the investigation,” Deputy Lampe said.
The surveillance video footage was making the rounds on social media Thursday morning and the HCSO said by noontime they had received six different leads but none appeared to be the alleged perpetrator.
Lampe said a parole officer in Webster County thought the man in the video may have been one of her clients, but it was later learned that that person in question was in the emergency room at the UnityPoint Fort Dodge – Trinity Regional Medical Center at the time of the robbery.
Other leads were pretty quickly eliminated the deputy said.
“One thing we don’t have is any reports of suspicious activities in the towns around that time, or any eye witnesses,” Lampe said.
“We also have no information on the vehicle the thief may have been driving,” Lampe said.
The chief deputy said the HCSO had just posted on their website the previous day that people should have valuables locked up and should consider keeping identification numbers and serial numbers of valuables or use some type of indelible marking system on tools and other valuables.
“We encourage people to look over the video image from the cigar store and see if they know the individual, they call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (515) 332-2471 with any information.
More details will be released as they become available.