Investigation leads to Aug. 19 sentencing in string of local restaurant burglaries

from Eugene Police Department

Meticulous work by Eugene Police Department investigators resulted in a guilty plea Aug. 5 and sentencing Aug. 19 for the man accused of burglaries at several local restaurants.

Thomas Dale Young, 40, entered a plea of guilty to 19 burglary counts from 15 different burglaries and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Twelve of the cases were investigated by Eugene Police detectives.

Complete case records are available from Lane County Circuit Court Online Services.

An EPD officer took Young into custody Sept. 22, 2021, after overnight burglaries in South Eugene at Pegasus Pizza, Laughing Planet, and Friendly Neighborhood Pub, and on Coburg Road at Ta-Ra-Rin and Papa Murphy’s Pizza.

Those reports are shown in the Eugene Dispatch Log for Sept. 21-22, 2021. Burglaries were reported at 2864 Willamette at 11:49 p.m. and 12:16 a.m., at 1601 Chambers at 3:51 a.m., and at 1520 Coburg Rd. at 5:35 a.m. and 6:31 a.m. A theft report was logged at 2866 Willamette at 7:57 a.m.

While detectives from the EPD Property Crimes Unit were investigating the multiple cases, Young received a bail reduction and was released from jail. He was later charged with burglaries committed while out on bail, including stealing the safe from the Cornbread Café on October 25, 2021.

Young was taken into custody in relation to a case in Corvallis and held in Benton County Jail. He again posted bail, but before his release, EPD detectives intervened and transported him back to Lane County for the Cornbread Café case.

He has remained in jail since that time.