BY ALEX PIAZZA
apiazza@record-eagle.com
---- — Bellaire — Dick Brown bought a new chainsaw and plans to purchase another rifle.
He also replaced the lock and added an extra deadbolt to his storage building. Brown, like many other Antrim County residents, was forced to restock items and take extra precautions after falling victim to a recent string of home invasions.
Burglars stole Brown's chainsaw and hunting rifle in November after they kicked in the door of his storage building along Clam Lake Road in Bellaire.
"They didn't even bother to take the bullets," he said.
Two Antrim County men face a lengthy list of felony charges after authorities said they connected them to a criminal enterprise that organized a series of regional home invasions. Thieves then swapped stolen goods for drugs, police contend.
Authorities this week charged Andrew Taylor Kent, 24, of Bellaire, with three counts of second-degree home invasion, breaking and entering a building with intent, receiving and/or concealing a firearm, felony firearm and conducting a criminal enterprise.
Adam Carl Calo, 25, of Mancelona, faces identical charges — all of which are felonies. The criminal enterprise charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and/or a $100,000 fine.
Kent and Calo participated in six home invasions last fall across Antrim and Kalkaska counties, authorities said. The suspects took copper pipes and wires from the basement of a Conrad Road home, along with DVDs from a Clam Lake Road cabin, and firearms, a saw and a leaf blower from a Kalkaska residence, court records show.
Kattie Renna-Smith Leffingwell, 25, of Kalkaska, also is linked to the criminal enterprise, court records show.
Kent was held in the Antrim County Jail on unrelated charges, and sheriff's deputies arrested Calo on Tuesday.
Deputies investigated numerous home invasion cases since last fall, said Sheriff Dan Bean.
"We were inundated in October, November and December," Bean said. "It was pretty overwhelming."
Authorities last month also charged Christopher Alan Murday and John Charles-Brandon Ladere with two counts of second-degree home invasion, two counts of larceny in a building and a count of breaking and entering. They were linked to multiple Antrim County burglaries, and are accused of stealing snowmobiles and other items.
Sheriff's officials continue to probe whether Murday and Ladere were tied to Kent and Calo's alleged operation.
"I wouldn't say that's not possible," Bean said.
