Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the vehicle driven by Cunningham, Self and Woodruff belonged to a family member of Cunningham’s.
Soldotna residents accused of burglary and theft are facing more charges.
Tayler Cunningham, 23, Russell Self, 24, and Cory Woodruff, 23, were originally stopped by Soldotna Police on Jan. 16, but were released, according to an Alaska State Troopers online dispatch. Soldotna Police forwarded the case to troopers, who “determined the three were responsible for a theft and burglary of a property in Sterling,” troopers wrote in the dispatch.
Cunningham and Self were arrested and charged with multiple counts of burglary, theft and misconduct involving a controlled substance after troopers executed a search warrant at the home where the two of them live.
Woodruff was arrested and charged with two counts of burglary and with hindering prosecution.
A Feb. 10 indictment added three charges of second-degree theft and a charge of first-degree theft for a value of $25,000 or more to Cunningham and Self’s cases.
The alleged crimes took place in Sterling, Soldotna and Nikiski, according to the indictment.
The stolen items from the Sterling residence burglary were in a trailer being pulled behind the vehicle the three were in on Jan. 16, and include a Yamaha ATV, the ATV trailer itself, propane tanks, two generators, fishing poles and various household items, according to an affidavit signed by Trooper Casey Hershberger.
The 1994 Ford the group was riding in turned out to belong to one of Cunningham’s family members, Hershberger wrote in another affidavit about the same incident. “Burglary tools” were found during a search of the vehicle, he wrote.
When troopers searched the home of Cunningham and Self, they found stolen property from at “least two more theft and burglaries” reported on Jan. 13 and Jan. 27, according to the affidavit.
Other items the men are accused of stealing include a Mossberg shotgun, a .22-caliber Cricket rifle and a .375-caliber Winchester rifle, according to the indictment.
The three were arraigned in Kenai Superior Court on Tuesday by Superior Court Judge Charles Huguelet.
Stacy Whiteley and Glenn Rodman have also been added as defendants in the case, according to the indictment. Rodman is charged with four counts of second-degree theft and a count of first-degree burglary.
Whiteley faces one charge of first-degree theft and a charge of fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance. She, Cunningham and Self were in possession of heroin in the Sterling area around Jan. 16, the day the original traffic stop was made, according to the indictment.
Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsulaclarion.com.
