By Staff
CASSOPOLIS – On Oct. 5 at approximately 1 p.m., investigators for the Cass County Drug Enforcement Team received a call from a concerned citizen that there was a suspicious vehicle in a wooded area near a prior methamphetamine production site in Marcellus Township off Hemlock Lake Road near Brody Street.
Investigators responded to the scene and discovered two individuals near a vehicle attempting to burn a box that contained numerous personal documents, including some documents from a residence in Marcellus Township.
Upon going to this residence it was discovered that the house had been broken into.
The homeowner then was called to the scene and it was determined that some of the property in the suspects' vehicle had been stolen from his residence. Officers found a large amount of antique coins and property in the vehicle as well.
Investigators then contacted area counties and subsequently discovered property in the suspects' possession that was later determined to be from several home invasions that had occurred earlier in the day in Kalamazoo and St.Joseph counties.
Investigators have determined that these suspects had broken into at least six homes in the three counties of Cass, St.Joseph and Kalamazoo.
The suspects, Zachary Freeman, 21, of Cedar Springs, and Robert Pursifull, 20, of Sand Lake, were arrested and lodged in the Cass County Jail.
On Friday, Oct. 6, these subjects were both arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit home invasion, home invasion second degree, possession of burglary tools, larceny in a building and both were charged as habitual offenders.
Their bond was set at $20,000 each for Freeman and Pursifull.
Freeman and Pursifull are currently held in the Cass County Jail.
It is expected that the St.Joseph County Sheriff's Office, Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office and the Michigan State Police may be charging these individuals as well.