Task force recovers multiple stolen items following burglaries in west central Minnesota

The West Central Minnesota Drug and Violent Crime Task Force (WCMDVCTF) recovered several stolen items as part of an ongoing investigation into several recent burglaries.

WCMDVCTF gathered information about stolen items in Pope and Grant Counties on June 25.

While executing search warrants, multiple stolen items were located in rural Starbuck, including a stolen ATV and a flatbed trailer.

The search for stolen items continued on June 26 when officers found several stolen items at the old Cyrus School.

Officers said stolen property was recovered from thefts in Douglas, Stevens and Pope Counties. Some items had been intentionally damaged by a suspect, later identified as 37-year-old Billy Maynard Swartz. Authorities also found methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, two firearms and ammunition.

Swartz was arrested for possession of stolen property and criminal damage to property.

The task force made a second arrest the next day on June 27 while executing a search warrant in Hoffman.

There, the task force arrested 22-year-old Jeremiah Dennis Leonard for possession of stolen property and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. At this property, authorities found stolen property from a Pope County burglary, bulk metals and a firearm.

The case remains under investigation.