Two charged in Dike, Reinbeck burglary spree

Two Mason City men are charged in connection to the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office investigation into a string of burglaries in Dike and Reinbeck earlier this year, which included attempts to drive off with ATMs in Dike with a stolen city-owned pickup.

Ryan Marek, 30, and Brandon Hufstedler, 36, both of Mason City, are each charged with second-degree burglary, a Class C felony; three counts of third-degree burglary and one count of second-degree criminal mischief, both class D felonies; one count of operation without owners’ consent and one count of third-degree attempted burglary and one count of possession of burglar tools, all aggravated misdemeanors, according to a press release from the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office. 

Marek was arrested in Garner on Grundy County warrants and is jailed on a $90,000 bond. Hufstedler is currently in Cerro Gordo County Jail on unrelated charges, awaiting transport to the Grundy County Jail.

According to court records, the spree began in the early-morning hours of Jan. 5, 2022, when the two suspects allegedly entered a Dike city maintenance building by force, taking a City of Dike pick-up truck along with other items.

The suspects rammed the truck into an overhead door at Easton Technical Products on 160th Street in Dike, then tried to pry open a different walk-through door in failed attempts to enter the building.

Then the suspects attempted to use the truck to gain entry to an ATM machine at Peoples Savings Bank across the street from the Easton building, and when that failed, the suspects backed the truck up to Fidelity Bank & Trust on Main Street, entering the lobby and tying a chain around the ATM machine in an attempt to open the machine or remove it from the lobby. The front door glass at Fidelity was shattered in the process.

Bank surveillance footage spotted the suspects walking toward a Main Street residence, where the door had been kicked open. The resident in that house was stirred out of bed by the racket, and discovered evidence of where suspects had entered the residence.

The truck was abandoned south of Dike, and surveillance video captured the suspects forcefully prying open the door of the Reinbeck Memorial Building, where money and alcohol were taken.

Marek was later identified by staff at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel in Tama, where clothing, footwear and the personal vehicle used by the suspect to visit the casino matched videos from the burglaries. Marek won a jackpot on a slot machine at the casino and then was unable to claim his winnings without providing proper identification, then later returned with ID. A search warrant on Hufstedler’s residence in Mason City unearthed clothing that both suspects had been wearing in the surveillance videos.