Burglary, drug ring leads to six arrests
By Michael Johnson, Editor
What started as a string of burglaries throughout much of northern North Dakota led to a high speed chase to Denbigh and the arrest of two suspects, Brent and Jason Ellis of Willow City. Information from them led to a probationary search of Michael and Andrew Fee’s residence, in Underwood, which led to their arrest for possession of meth and stolen items. The power of text messages then led to two more arrests when authorities found Erik Benson, Bismarck, and Ashton Nielsen, Dickinson, were texting the Fees’ phones in search of meth. McLean County Sheriff Don Charging said that they got the tip from a Bureau of Criminal Investigations officer that the Ellis brothers were suspected of trading stolen property for meth with the Fee brothers out of their trailer house in Underwood. The Ellis brothers had recently been arrested after fleeing from officers in a high speed chase to McHenry County. One of the Fee brothers was on probation so officers decided to do a probationary check of the residence. Officers from the McLean Mercer Drug Task Force, BCI, and a North Dakota parole officer converged on the home and found enough stolen property to fill a 24-foot horse trailer, Charging said. The items are from a large area, Charging calls northern North Dakota. He has been in contact with other agencies to see if the items have been reported stolen in their area. Numerous burglaries have been reported in the north part of the county and adjoining counties that could be connected to the Ellis brothers.
