From the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Oct. 4, 2018, at about 11:18 a.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center received a call from a concerned neighbor reporting suspicious subjects observed outside a home on the 4400 block of Walnut Drive in Cutten.

 

Upon arrival, deputies made contact with the homeowner, who had arrived on scene shortly before deputies. According to the homeowner, several items were missing from inside the residence including a firearm, electronics and jewelry. The homeowner believed the suspicious subjects possibly made entry through an unsecured door. During a search of the wooded area behind the residence, deputies located a bag with some of the reported stolen items from the residence inside. Deputies continued searching the wooded area and found the stolen firearm hidden in nearby brush.

While on scene, deputies received information that persons associated with the homeowner had observed one of the suspicious subjects, later identified as Dennis Gene Palmer, 31, of Eureka, running on a nearby road, then into another wooded area off of Jeffery Lane. Sheriff’s deputies were able to track and locate Palmer inside the wooded area.

Palmer was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of burglary, possession of burglary tools and possession of drug paraphernalia. His bail is set at $75,000.

The second suspicious subject in this case was located walking on the 1900 block of Campton Road. That subject was questioned and released at the scene.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank all involved in this case for assisting to locate Palmer and the stolen items. The Sheriff’s Office encourages the public to continue reporting suspicious circumstances or subjects in your neighborhood, and to consider forming a Neighborhood Watch group in your community. Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.