UPD: Three Ukiah businesses burglarized

An Oregon man was arrested this week for allegedly burglarizing three Ukiah businesses, the Ukiah Police Department reported.

According to the UPD, officers responded to the Barr Family Chiropractic clinic in the 1200 block of Airport Park Boulevard shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday when the owner reported that the business had been burglarized.

The officers determined that a door had been forced open earlier that morning and approximately $2,000 had been stolen from the business, which had also been vandalized.

The thief had also broken into neighboring businesses, including Body Glow Tanning Bou

tique, which had surveillance footage of a suspect entering the business and forcing open desks and cabinets with a crowbar before exiting with merchandise valued at approximately $1,000, which included a distinctive sweatshirt and ball cap. A third business broken into was described as an empty building.

When officers resumed their patrols, one of them reportedly saw a suspect wearing the stolen merchandise in the 1000 block of South State Street, and given that he also resembled the man seen in the surveillance footage of the burglary, he was detained.

The suspect was later identified as Donald Emil Morin, 75, of Medford, and when officers searched his motel room they reportedly found items stolen from the first two businesses inside it, as well as items connected to a burglary reported by a third business, Haute Mess on South State Street, the previous day.

Morin was arrested on suspicion of burglary, and for burglary committed during a state of emergency. He was also reportedly found to be on probation out of Oregon for a burglary conviction.

He was booked into Mendocino County Jail under $45,000 bail.

The UPD notes that this case serves “as a reminder of the value of surveillance systems, as well as alarm systems. These systems often prove to be invaluable to law enforcement agencies in solving crimes.”