Austin Downing

Zachary Sorenson

Authorities say officers were dispatched at around 8:30-a.m. Saturday to a home located in the 3100 block of Traders Point, Council Bluffs, with regard the incident the men were allegedly involved in. The home owner, 38-year old Michael Hodtwalker, informed officers that sometime overnight a person or person entered the home, by way of forced entry to a window, and removed several digital items and other property, as the family was asleep. The culprits then entered the garage and placed several dirt bike motorcycles into the bed of the Hodtwalker’s Ford F-150 truck and drove away.

Officers were informed by a neighborhood watch member that the incident may have been recorded on a surveillance camera. The citizen reviewed the recording and observed the truck leaving the residence at approximately 6:15-a.m. At around 10:15-a.m. officers were dispatched to the area of South 29th Street and 7th Avenue in Council Bluffs on a report of an abandoned truck in the roadway. They confirmed the vehicle was the same truck stolen from Hodtwalker’s Saturdays morning.

Additional investigation led detectives to a house in the 2900 block of 3rd Avenue in Council Bluffs, where one of the stolen motorcycles was seen in the rear yard. A search warrant was served upon the property and most of the stolen property and vehicles were recovered and returned to the rightful owners. The suspects were taken into custody. The case remains under investigation.