Newton man charged for burglarizing home of guns and trying to sell them

A 22-year-old Newton man allegedly broke into a house earlier this winter, stole guns from the basement and then tried to sell them. Criminal complaints obtained by Newton News show police acquired footage leading to the break-in and found evidence of him trying to trade the guns, leading to an arrest and felony charges.

Blake Logue has been charged with third-degree burglary (Class D felony), second-degree burglary (Class C felony), three counts of trafficking stolen weapons (Class D felony) and three counts of a domestic abuser in possession of firearms (Class D felony). The burglary was reported on Feb. 20.

Newton Police Department received a report that a residence had a basement egress window broken out and three firearms were reported stolen. The firearms included a .222 rifle, a .410 bolt-action shotgun and a .410 break-action shotgun. Fresh snow was around the house, and boot tracks were left by the suspect.

Tracks led southwest of the victim’s home. Woodrow Wilson Elementary School is located nearby the house, and its security cameras recorded a suspect burglarizing the home. Police said the suspect can be seen walked toward the house around 4:19 p.m., creating the same tracks officers inspected that day.

Less than a half-hour later, the suspect returns from the house and leaves by bicycle. Then at 5:27 p.m. that same day, a vehicle can be seen returning to the same area of the victim’s residence. Three minutes later the suspect can be seen in the footage fleeing the area using the same path as before.

Police said it appears the home was burglarized twice.

Officers spoke with a witness who admitted they drove the suspect, Logue, to the burglary and then picked him up afterward. Criminal complaints said the witness knew the case facts that only a person involved in the crime would know, such as the date, location and the items stolen from the house.

When Logue returned to the vehicle, the witness told police he was in possession of three long gun cases. The witness said they were unaware Logue was burglarizing the residence at the time. Text messages from the witness showed Logue had knowledge and details of the burglary when discussing it.

Officers were able to locate Logue after he was apprehended for an unrelated arrest warrant. A cellular phone was found and seized. Police believed it would contain evidence of the burglary and applied for a search warrant. With the warrant granted, police searched the phone’s text message history.

Police located a message where Logue attempted to trade a bolt-action .410 shotgun. He was also asked the “year and model of mine” by another suspect. Logue responded by sending three photos of the .410 bolt-action shot gun. The victim’s family confirmed the photos of the shotgun matched their stolen firearm.