MANTORVILLE — Two Rochester residents have been charged with third-degree burglary and theft, both felonies, after authorities say they stole more than $10,000 worth of tools.
Phillip Steven Nichele, 39, and Andrew Lee Gaskill, 29, were charged Friday in Dodge County District Court; they remain in custody in the Steele County Adult Detention Center.
The incident began about 7 a.m. Thursday, when a rural Kasson business reported a break-in. More than $10,000 worth of power tools and equipment were missing, the report says.
Deputies with the Dodge County Sheriff's Office reviewed surveillance footage from the business and allegedly identified the two suspects as Nichele and Gaskill, former employees. According to the report, a vehicle in the video matched the vehicle registered to one of the men.
Nichele was found later that day and arrested without incident outside an apartment in southeast Rochester, said Sheriff Jim Jensen. Officers from Olmsted County assisted in the arrest.
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At the time of Nichele's arrest, the vehicle used in the burglary, along with a trailer used to store the stolen property, were seized by Dodge County investigators, the report says.
That night, Olmsted County deputies assisted in recovering a large gravity table saw that the suspects had allegedly hidden in a wooded area behind a Rochester business.
Gaskill was arrested Friday at a home in northwest Rochester, with assistance from the Rochester Police Department.
Both men are due back in court Nov. 13.
