Alleged Blackfoot burglar targeted families attending funerals

A 35-year-old Blackfoot woman was charged with four counts of burglary Wednesday, after she was caught Tuesday stealing prescription drugs from the home of a family attending a funeral.

Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland says he believes Julie Breed looked through obituaries to see when families would be out of their homes.

“Between the city and the county, we have a joint detectives division,” said Rowland. “We worked together yesterday, and we caught her in someone else’s home, taking prescription medication.”

In fact, one of Rowland’s deputies believes he’s seen Breed in action before.

“He didn’t think anything of it until we’d arrested her and he saw her picture,” said Rowland. “He said, ‘Oh, that lady was at my neighbor’s house when they were having his funeral.'”

Rowland says this can be a problem for churchgoers as well, and recommends locking all doors and windows. At Hawker Funeral Home, owner Perry Hawker suggests taking it a step further.

“If there’s a neighbor or somebody they trust that would actually watch their home,” said Hawker.

Hawker said families are just as vulnerable with their security as they are with their emotions during funerals.

“For the majority of people, it’s just unthinkable that something like that would happen,” said Hawker.

Hawker and his colleagues throughout Southeastern Idaho know families are at risk, so he said they often caution their clients.

“That happens half a dozen times in our community,” said Hawker. “People tell us they were either broken into or an attempt was made to break in while they were at the funeral.”

Burglars go for any type of belonging, but both Hawker and Rowland said sick and elderly people are targeted during funerals because they often have strong prescription drugs.

In addition to four counts of burglary, Breed is charged with possession of a controlled substance, and obtaining a controlledsubstance by fraud. She is being held on $10,000 bond.