Whitefish officers arrested two local men connected to numerous burglaries in Flathead County since December 2010.
Colton Donsbach, 20, and his brother, Dustin Donsbach, 19, were arrested on Aug. 16 after police officers noticed suspicious activity on Pine Avenue in Whitefish.
The officers were on special duty in response to a rash of car break-ins in the area, according to a press release from the Whitefish Police Department.
Early on Aug. 16, the officers reported seeing a vehicle drive to the end of Pine Avenue, a dead-end street, and stop. The officers, approaching on foot, saw a man leaving a vehicle parked in a nearby driveway.
The man, later identified as Dustin Donsbach, fled on foot into the heavy woods adjacent to the railroad tracks, the officers reported. They found a second man, Colton Donsbach, sitting in his vehicle with “burglary tools, a purse and numerous other items taken from vehicles earlier in the evening in the Willowbrook area of Whitefish,” according to the press release.
Officers arrested Colton Donsbach at the scene, and he allegedly identified his brother as the man who ran into the woods. Dustin Donsbach surrendered to Whitefish Police later that evening.
According to the Whitefish Police Department, a search warrant of the brothers’ residence yielded evidence of other burglaries in Whitefish, Kalispell, and the surrounding areas of Flathead County.
That evidence included a sawed-off shotgun, an AK-47 assault rifle, several other firearms, flat screen televisions, GPS systems, electronic components, tools, digital cameras, computers, smart phones, video games, bikes, and other items.
An estimated $20,000 to $30,000 worth of evidence was recovered.
The brothers would allegedly cruise through neighborhoods in Flathead County and use a baseball bat to break locked windows in cars, though the press release states that many of the stolen items came from unlocked cars.
The Donsbachs are also suspects in multiple business and residence burglaries, and are being held on misdemeanor charges. Felony charges from the Flathead County Attorney’s office are pending review.
According to Whitefish police, the alleged thefts began last December. Police Chief Bill Dial credited the Donsbachs’ arrests to good police work and tips from community members.