UPDATE: Third suspect arrested in connection to B&E

UPDATE — Tuesday, December 13th, 2016 9:45 a.m. EST

A third suspect has been arrested in connection to the burglary at the Northwoods Trading Post.

Officers from the Hancock Police Department say the third and final suspect was taken into custody without incident around 4:00 p.m. Monday afternoon. The suspect is charged with breaking and entering with intent and felony and larceny of a firearm.

The suspect is being held in the Houghton County Jail awaiting arraignment.

UPDATE — Monday, December 12th, 2016 4:20 p.m. EST

Two former Finlandia University students are now facing charges for allegedly stealing guns from a Hancock store.

18-year-old Alexander Santiago and 18-year-old Juan Carlos Pereyra are charged with Breaking and Entering with Intent, a 20 year felony and Larceny of Firearms, a 5 year felony. The charges stem from a break-in at Northwoods Sporting Goods in Hancock early Saturday morning.

Hancock Police say three semiautomatic handguns and two boxes of .40 caliber ammunition that were stolen from the store were found later that same day at a dorm room in Finlandia Hall on the university’s campus. Santiago and Pereyra were arrested at the scene shortly after. A third suspect is believed to have served as a look-out during the alleged robbery.

The two out-of-state men were students at Finlandia but have since been banned from campus. Hancock Police says this incident is not believed to be related to the dismissal of five other students last week.

Hancock Police Chief Wayne Butler said, “This is an isolated incident. This was an incident that actually took place off campus. Unfortunately, the folks that decided to break into the business are students at Finlandia and, with the guns being taken, they were obviously taken back to the Finlandia campus.”

Police believe the guns were stolen with the intent to sell them out of the area and not for use locally. The university sent out a Campus Security Alert Saturday evening saying there was no immediate threat to people’s safety but additional safety measures have been put in place. Butler said, What we’re doing is we’re working with Finlandia Security and the faculty and staff at the university to increase extra security, folks on staff more often and throughout the night, as well as increasing patrol presence of officer through the parking lots at night.”

The two suspects are being held on a $50,000/10% or $5,000 bond and are currently lodged in the Houghton County Jail.
Probable Cause hearings are scheduled for December 27th and Preliminary Exams will be on January 4th. Hancock Police, Houghton Police, Finlandia Security, Michigan Tech Police and Public Services and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives collaborated on the investigation.

Two suspects have been taken into custody in connection to Saturday’s breaking and entering at the Northwoods Trading Post in Hancock.

Officers from the Hancock Police Department responded to the dorms at Finlandia University around 3:45 p.m. Saturday after Finlandia Security had notified Central Dispatch about their discovery of three firearms during a health and welfare check in a dorm room at Finlandia Hall. Three handguns with serial numbers matching those taken from the Trading Post were found along with two boxes of .40 Caliber ammunition.

After further investigation by multiple agencies, two Finlandia students were arrested and charged with burglary. Those two were arrested at the University, and police say criminal charges are pending against a third student.

A warrant for the charges is pending from the Houghton County Prosecutor. The two suspects are lodged at the Houghton County Jail.

Hancock Police, Finlandia Security, and the U.s. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives collaborated on the investigation.

HANCOCK — Police in the Copper Country are investigating a breaking and entering incident that occurred early Saturday morning in the City of Hancock.

At approximately 4:15 a.m., the Hancock City Police Department responded to a reported breaking and entering complaint at the Northwoods Trading Post on Quincy Street. When they arrived, police say the front glass door was smashed. Guns and ammunition were stolen from the post.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing. If you have any information about the incident, contact the Houghton City Police Department at (906) 482-3102.