A series of break-ins have been keeping law enforcement busy in Hettinger County and Dunn County.
In Hettinger County, Fitterer Oil and the Regent Garage Company were broken into for the second time in 11 days. Hettinger County Sheriff Terry Marigny was called out at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning to investigate the burglaries. Earlier break-ins happened Sept. 9.
Marigny said an undisclosed amount of cash was taken. He also said the burglar or burglars entered each place of business the same way as the previous break-ins. Fitterer Oil was forcibly entered through a door and the Regent Garage a window.
"This is the first burglaries we've had in the county in four years," Marigny said.
A New England grocery store was burglarized in 2002, Marigny said. He also said it's rare to have burglaries occur in the same places back to back.
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Todd Fitterer of Fitterer Oil declined to comment. The owner of the Regent Garage Company was unavailable for comment.
In Dunn County, three burglaries occurred Wednesday morning in Halliday. The Farmers Union, Martin Sales and Service and Halliday Custom Meats were broken into. Sheriff Larry Boepple was called out at about 6 a.m.
Boepple said a safe with about $1,800 in cash was taken from the Farmers Union. The building was forcibly entered from a window.
Martin Sales and Service and Halliday Custom Meats were forcibly entered through the front door. About $10 was taken from Martin Sales and Service. Boepple believes nothing was taken from Halliday Custom Meats.
About 10 days ago, two businesses - My House and Crossroads Restaurant - were burglarized in Killdeer, also in Dunn County.
"It's frustrating," Boepple said. "It's getting a little old."
All of the burglaries are still under investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Boepple isn't sure if there's a correlation between the Hettinger County and Dunn County burglaries.
"At this time it's hard to tell," Boepple said. "There are some similarities, but nothing definite."
