Two charged in Carmen burglaries

The three-day investigation began with a burglary report in Carmen. Then another burglary was added and that was topped off by a report of assault with a vehicle.

Alfalfa County Sheriff’s Deputy Diego Gutierrez was notified Saturday, March 19, that Riley Cowan called the sheriff’s office about 8:42 p.m. to report someone had broken into his brother’s home located at 117 N. 2nd in Carmen. He said he and his brother James believed the person responsible might be Evan Kingcade.

James and Riley met Gutierrez in the front yard and took him to the back where they pointed out the glass French door had been broken out with a PVC pipe, lying on the ground in front of the door. The brothers said they found a footprint in James’ room, and the room had been trashed entirely. In the room, Gutierrez saw a footprint left on the mattress sheet. James said there was $574 missing from his dresser.

Returning outside, Gutierrez found more footprints, matching the one inside, at the base of the broken glass door. James said the last they knew, Kingcade was staying at his uncle’s house in Carmen.

Gutierrez started to look for Kingcade but James called to say he was going to Jiffy Trip and saw Kingcade walking down Main Street with a juvenile. Gutierrez headed that direction and saw the two walking. Riley Cowan had described Kingcade as wearing a jean jacket with a white t-shirt and blue jeans. One individual matched that description while the other was dressed in all dark blue clothes.

The Cowan brothers followed the second individual and returned with him. Gutierrez approached Kingcade who was saying he didn’t do anything. Gutierrez asked Kingcade if he had any weapons, and Kingcade said he had knives in his pockets. After placing Kingcade in handcuffs, Gutierrez patted him down, feeling an item in his front right pocket. Kingcade confirmed it was a knife, but Gutierrez left it in his pocket. He had Kingcade sit on the curb.

Gutierrez then talked to the juvenile who said he was just going home for the night so he could go to work in the morning. Gutierrez asked him about weapons, and he said he didn’t have any. After Gutierrez patted him down, the juvenile told him he had broken into James Cowan’s home with Kingcade. He said Kingcade was the one who broke the glass door using the PVC pipe. When Gutierrez asked the juvenile to show him the bottom of his shoes, they matched the footprints found at the Cowan residence.

The juvenile said the break-in was Kingcade’s idea, and he went along because Kingcade said they had some expensive stuff. Asked about the money, the juvenile said he didn’t take any and didn’t know where it was. The juvenile was handcuffed and detained. Kingcade then said he had broken into the house with the juvenile, but it was the juvenile who broke the door and invited him to go with him.

Gutierrez contacted Assistant District Attorney Brian Mitchell about the situation since one of the suspects was a minor. He was told to release the juvenile to a parent. The juvenile’s mother agreed to pick him up.

While they were waiting for her, Kingcade began yelling at the Cowan brothers. When the talking and yelling did not stop even though he told them to stop, Gutierrez placed Kingcade in his vehicle after removing his knife and telling him he was under arrest for burglary. Kingcade later told Gutierrez that the knife belonged to the juvenile.

Kingcade told Gutierrez that he had recently been in the hospital and had medication. They went to get his meds. On the way, according to the affidavit, Kingcade told Gutierrez they had also broken into a second home earlier in the day. He pointed out the house at 415 N. 6th St. as they drove by. He said Gary Price had also been at the burglaries with them.

Gutierrez encountered the juvenile and his mother walking south on 5th Street and stopped. He asked the juvenile if he had been at the second address earlier and burglarized it, but he said he wasn’t involved in anything there.

When they reached the home of Kingcade’s uncle, Gutierrez was met by the Cowans who had gone to ask the uncle where the stolen items might be. They said the uncle didn’t know, but they looked through the window of an abandoned home directly across the street and saw what they thought might be some items stolen from them. They said the back door had been kicked in.

Gutierrez called ADA Mitchell again to ask how to proceed. Gutierrez told him the house was fully abandoned, and the items looked as though they had just been hastily placed there and didn’t belong. Mitchell advised him the property could be removed and collected for safekeeping while the investigation concluded.

While removing the items from the abandoned house, Gutierrez was called by dispatch about a second burglary reported at 415 N. 6th. Kevin Brothers stated he had cameras in the home and captured audio and video of the burglary in progress. Gutierrez picked up Kingcade’s medications from his uncle.

Gutierrez went to the 6th Street address but no one answered his knocking. He contacted dispatch and was told the owners were not there. He called Brothers and his wife who said they had video recordings of the burglary and gave detailed descriptions that matched Kingcade and the juvenile. They also gave him characteristic features to describe the third burglar. From previous encounters, Gutierrez believed the description matched Gary Price. The Brothers were able to describe most of the items Gutierrez collected from the abandoned home.

Kingcade told Gutierrez they had gone in through the back door. Gutierrez drove around to the back alley and walked up to the back door. He saw the glass window in the door was broken out. Leading up to the steps, he saw shoe prints matching those he observed on the juvenile’s shoes and other prints matching Kingcade’s shoes.

At the Alfalfa County Jail, Gutierrez asked Kingcade about the knife he had and a camo-colored hat he was wearing. Kingcade said neither was his and they were stolen. They were placed with the other property recovered.

James Cowan later contacted Gutierrez and said he was also missing a green knife which had a lot of sentimental value, and he believed it was stolen.

The next morning, March 20, Gutierrez went back to the Brothers’ home to meet with Kevin and Dianne to document damages from the burglary. He was shown locations where property and been removed. Kevin showed him where the camera had been located that captured the video and where it had been ripped off the wall. He was also shown a gun safe in the bedroom that was thrown on its side and severely damaged by the use of heavy hand tools in an attempt to open it.

Kevin took Gutierrez to the garage where he noted his Harley Davidson had been turned around and moved toward the door. Dianne also pointed out a set of silver-colored rings with clear white stones was missing from the bedroom. Kevin showed Gutierrez the video recordings. In the video, Gutierrez was able to clearly identify Kingcade, the juvenile and Price.

While he was at the Brothers’ home, Gutierrez received a call from James Cowan who said he came across Price at the Jiffy Trip and confronted him about his stolen property. He said Price called his dad who showed up in a yellow van and tried to run him over. During that call, Gutierrez got a call from dispatch who informed him of a call from the Jiffy Trip attendant who reported a fight almost breaking out and someone in a yellow van trying to run over another individual. Dispatch said the attendant reported two individuals got into the van, and they left.

Gutierrez drove toward Price’s house but saw Gary Price walking south from his house. He was wearing the same clothing Gutierrez had seen in the Brothers’ video. Gutierrez stopped and placed him under arrest for burglary. He asked about weapons and began patting him down. Price said he had two knives, and said the green one was from James Cowan’s home.

Price said he saw James and was going to return his knife because he didn’t want any trouble with him. He told about the incident at Jiffy Trip involving his dad. Gutierrez placed Price in his car and drove to talk with his dad. Price asked to speak with his dad and then pointed out the abandoned home where the stolen items were found. He also provided an apology letter for the victims of the burglaries.

Price was transported to the Alfalfa County Jail and booked in. While Price’s effects were being inventoried, he removed a set of silver-colored rings with clear white stones from his hand. Gutierrez asked if they had been stolen, and he said they had.

Evan Michael Kingcade, 24, of Carmen, and Gary Lynn Price, 18, of Carmen, have each been charged with two counts of burglary in the second degree and one count of knowingly receiving or concealing stolen property, all felonies. Burglary in the second degree is punishable by imprisonment for up to seven years.

Assault Investigation

Gutierrez went to Price’s home to speak with his dad, Michael Mathes. Parked outside the residence was a gold or yellow van. Mathes told Gutierrez he got a call from his son Gary who told him he was afraid he and his little brother who was with him were going to get hurt by James Cowan. Mathes said he jumped in his van and went to get his kids. Mathes said he did pull into the parking lot fast and followed after James who saw him and started to leave.

Mathes said his intention was not to run over James but rather to get out and yell at him and give him a talking due to previous problems between him and the kids. Mathes agreed to provide a written statement. He was arrested and transported to the Alfalfa County Jail.

On March 21, Gutierrez went back to Carmen and conducted a follow-up with Kadie Webster, the store attendant who called in the incident. She said she didn’t know any of the kids’ names or the parent’s name but stated she recognized and could associate all parties involved. When asked, she said the driver of the yellow van pulled into the parking area very fast and almost hit a bystander. She said the driver continued to chase after one of the kids, using his vehicle to force the kid to run between another vehicle and gas pump. She agreed to provide a written statement.

On March 23 in Alfalfa County, Michael A. Mathes, 38, of Carmen, was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, a felony. This crime is punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years.