Three more suspects have been charged with multiple felonies for allegedly stealing a safe containing as much as $50,000 in cash from Kwethluk’s village corporation building and cracking it open along the Kuskokwim River ice road in January 2024.
The state of Alaska has charged 41-year-old Lyle Turner, 42-year-old Alvin Chief, and 35-year-old Allen Nicori with felony first-degree theft, second-degree burglary, and third-degree criminal mischief for allegedly participating in the theft. According to charging documents, the three men acted with another man recently charged with the same crimes: 33-year-old Marvin Nicori of Kwethluk.
The four men allegedly worked together to break into the Kwethluk Inc. building in the early morning hours of Jan. 28. Alaska State Troopers said that security footage from a nearby fuel station that morning shows the Kwethluk Inc. safe being dragged by a white pickup truck toward the ice road.
A short distance away on the frozen Kuskokwim River, troopers said that they found the safe with its door cut off and a piece of green rope wrapped around one of its wheels.
The day after the incident, troopers said that a truck matching the one seen in the security footage was found parked in front of a Bethel home with a tow strap matching the fragment of rope found on the safe.
According to charging documents, troopers seized a large amount of cash from a purse in the Bethel home, alongside several hundred dollars worth of coins from a backpack that also contained burglary tools and keys tagged as belonging to Kwethluk Inc.
According to court records, none of the four men are currently in custody. A summons was previously issued for Marvin Nicori to be arraigned in Bethel District Court on Oct. 28, and summonses have been issued for the other three suspects to be arraigned Nov. 18.
