Crime and Courts

Man accused of statewide burglaries, pawning items in Bozeman apprehended

Posted: Feb 1, 2012 12:42 PM by David Sherman (Great Falls)

A man who was linked to several burglaries in recent months was arrested in Helena on Tuesday night.

Helena police received a report of a suspicious person in the area of an auto body repair shop; when police responded to the scene, Brent Ray Nelson reportedly attempted to flee the fenced area but was apprehended.

Officers found a white Ford pickup truck nearby that had been described in a Crimestoppers alert recently. Officers say that the truck was stolen from Sheridan, Wyoming.

Nelson was arrested on felony warrants from Great Falls and has been charged with misdemeanor possession of dangerous drugs and criminal trespass.

Nelson was also linked to recent burglaries in Missoula and reportedly pawned some of the missing items from the burglaries at Melotz Trucking and Northwest Tower at a pawn shop in Bozeman, according to Jason Johnson of the Missoula County Sheriff's Department.

Nelson had been the subject of a state-wide U.S. Marshals "BOLO Alert" last week.