Petersburg resident breaks into post office

PETERSBURG - Christopher Manske was arrested on Feb. 26, and is now being held in federal custody in Juneau facing charges of burglary of a post office and mail theft. According to the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, paperwork regarding his indictment has not been submitted as of Tuesday afternoon.

Sometime between the late evening of Feb. 21 and the following morning, an individual broke into the Petersburg Post Office and stole about 16 parcels, according to the complaint. Postal Inspectors Adam Savoie and Kevin Horne responded and investigated the scene on Sunday, Feb. 23.

At approximately 12:20 A.M. on Feb. 24, Officer Andrew Ayriss made contact with Manske who was seated in the backseat of his vehicle in the post office parking lot, according to the complaint. Manske told Ayriss that he was on his phone. Ayriss drove off, but continued to observe Manske.

Petersburg Police Chief Jim Kerr said Ayriss thought Manske seemed suspicious, which is why he decided to continue to observe Manske from a distance.

"In this line of work you always listen to the little voice that if something doesn't feel or sound right, it's probably because it's not," said Kerr.

At approximately 12:25 A.M., Ayriss watched as Manske exited his vehicle and went inside the post office. About 30 minutes later, Ayriss and Officer Eric Wolf saw Manske exit the building, according to the complaint.

Both officers approached Manske who rushed towards his vehicle and threw something in the backseat, according to the complaint. Ayriss went into the post office and saw a bolt on the floor and four partially opened parcel lockers with keys inside. Inside the lockers were multiple parcels addressed to various residents, according to the complaint.

Manske was detained, but later released to Petersburg Medical Center for mental health treatment. Ayriss was granted a search warrant for Manske's vehicle later that day and found postal locker keys, a large bag containing prescription pills, torn parcels and letters.

Savoie visited Manske at PMC and read him his Miranda Rights. According to the complaint, Manske told investigators that one Dustin Delong left keys in a trash can in the post office so Manske could use the keys to open up the parcel lockers and take the packages. Manske told investigators that he and Delong were to split the money made from selling the contents of the packages.

On Feb. 24, authorities gained a search warrant of Manske's boat. While searching the boat, authorities found a package addressed to a local resident. Miscellaneous pills addressed to another resident were also found on the boat. A federal warrant was eventually issued for Manske's arrest, and local authorities arrested him at about 4:20 A.M. on Feb. 26, according to Kerr.

According to Inspector Postal Inspector John Wiegand, Delong is not believed to be a part of the break in. Wiegand said postal inspectors suspect that Manske told them that Delong placed keys inside the post office as a way to redirect the blame to someone else.

"It appears to be fairly common in a lot of situations, but we are running down all leads," said Wiegand.