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Arraigned Monday afternoon in 73rd District Court for the early Sunday morning break-in and theft were Leonard Arthur Jacobs, 31, of Sandusky, Raymond Michael Matson, 28, of Cass City, and Jeffery Allen Craig, 25, of Swartz Creek.

They were charged with the same crimes: breaking and entering a building with intent; conspiracy to break and enter a building with intent; weapons-firearms, receiving and concealing; possession of burglary tools; weapon-firearm larceny; and larceny in a building.

Preliminary exams for the trio are set for Jan. 2 in district court.

Central Dispatch received the 911 call around 2:20 a.m. from a Peck area homeowner who reported he was following a car eastbound on M-90 from Brown Road. He said there were several subjects riding in the car who had just broken into his shop in the 1500 block of East Harrington Road.

The homeowner told dispatchers he had responded to a motion alarm in his shop, spotted several sets of footprints in the snow by the door, and saw the car leaving the property.

The homeowner followed the suspect vehicle in a snow storm, and when the car - a 1994 Dodge Intrepid - pulled into a mobile home park on M-90 east of Brown Road, he waited.

"I think they noticed that he was following them, and they tried to lose him," said Sgt. Brad Roff of the Sanilac County Sheriff Department.

However, because of the heavy snowfall the homeowner was able to spot the car's tire tracks going into the trailer park. And when they pulled out of the park a short-time later and headed east toward Croswell, he was behind them, said Roff.

Thanks to the homeowner's description of the car, Sheriff's deputies Otto Kutach and Michael Moore spotted the vehicle on M-90 near Wixson Road in Lexington Township, approximately eight miles from Brown Road.

The deputies turned on their overhead lights and pulled the car over without any trouble, said Roff. The homeowner, who had stopped on the highway until the scene was secured, identified a rifle found in the car as being taken from his shop.

Officers also discovered suspected burglary tools in the vehicle, including bolt cutters, a pry bar and torches, said Roff, who assisted at the arrest scene along with Croswell Officer Erik Wurmlinger.

Authorities are checking with police in other counties to find out if the suspects have been involved in other burglaries, Roff stated.