You could say the historic Igo Inn and its events manager, Brian Collier, have been hit with a triple whammy in recent days.
But Collier also has reason to give thanks for two alert pawnshop clerks, a watchful pet and a fast-acting firefighter.
Six antique rifles were stolen in a Feb. 2 break-in, then recovered two days later when a man tried to sell them at a Redding pawnshop.
What’s more, Collier and his dog survived a fire last week that started inside the inn, owing to a quick response from a nearby volunteer firefighter.
If all that drama wasn’t enough, Collier is getting over a bout of COVID-19.
In a related act of kindness, Collier and the inn’s owner, Max Snyder, are going to reward the employees at Olde West Gun & Loan in Redding for helping to solve the rifle-theft case.
“The sad part is the guy that did burglarize our place had a wedding here three weeks ago,” Collier said Friday.
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Friday that Jordan Ericsson, 29, and Tamia Wilcox, 31, are facing charges of possessing stolen property after they tried to sell the inn’s stolen guns at the pawnshop.
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A sheriff’s office sergeant said Saturday he was going to contact Collier to learn more about the wedding connection because the burglary investigation isn’t complete. Collier had said Ericsson was the groom and Wilcox was the bride at a Thursday wedding in January.
Not a good start to February
Deputies said Collier called the SHASCOM dispatch center about 6 p.m. Feb. 2 to report a burglary at the Igo Inn on South Fork Road southwest of Redding.
Six antique firearms were missing — two Civil War-era rifles and four rifles from the 1890s-1900s. One was a black-powder Damascus barrel shotgun that once belonged to Collier’s grandfather.
“It didn’t have a whole lot of monetary value, but a lot of sentimental value,” Collier said.
All told, the rifles were worth about $5,000 and a $500 reward was offered on social media for their return.
The thief broke out a 10-by-18-inch window and escaped through a back door with the guns. Nothing else was taken; coins in a cash register and bottles of liquor were untouched.
“It was one pane of glass and they squeezed through. Unfortunately it was the old wavy glass from 1883,” Collier said.
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The rifles were displayed on a rack on the wall to complement the inn’s vintage age.
“I didn’t have them bolted down or anything because I didn’t think anybody would steal them,” Collier said.
Deputies and crime-scene technicians took over the investigation.
Pawnshop visit
Two days later, on Feb. 4, SHASCOM received a call from Olde West Gun & Loan saying two people were trying to sell the rifles there.
Employee Dale Kosko said she and fellow worker Nichole Soderfelt helped the pair, who wanted $2,500 for the guns they brought in. Kosko said employees pay attention to Redding crime Facebook pages where the burglary was publicized.
“We recognized the guns right away,” Kosko said. “They were very distinctive.”
She said she stalled the pair by saying the shop needed time to determine the rifles’ values, then called authorities.
Deputies, accompanied by Redding police, went to Olde West and contacted Ericsson and Wilcox outside the store. Under questioning, deputies said Ericsson let them go to his house and he turned over the rest of the stolen guns.
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Ericsson and Wilcox are facing charges of possessing stolen property, the sheriff’s office said.
A sheriff’s office photo shows Collier happily getting the rifles back.
Quick response stops fire
Meanwhile, Collier blames himself for a fire that broke out inside the inn Tuesday.
He said he didn’t want to leave the inn unattended at night so he set up an inflatable bed and camped out with his dog.
“We didn’t know who the burglar was and I was afraid they were going to come back. I lit a fire in the fireplace and opened the two doors on the wood stove. A log fell out on top of five other logs and lit that on fire,” he said.
His dog alerted him to the blaze as the next-door room filled with smoke.
Collier said volunteer firefighter Mac Girgler of the nearby Igo-Ono Fire Company happened to be driving by. He responded to the 911 call and doused the flames with water.
“He was here within 90 seconds from the time I called 911. The flames were 5 feet high,” Collier said. “He was just driving by when he got the call.”
On top of everything else, Collier says he’s recovering from a case of COVID-19.
“I’ve been isolated here at the Igo Inn for the past week,” he said.
The 73-year-old said he feels OK, owing to his vaccination status with a booster.
“It’s just more like having a stomach flu more than anything,” he said.
Fixing the floor and paying the reward
Things should work out to repair the $2,000 fire damage to the inn’s burned floor. Collier said he found someone to come out Saturday who can replace the wood and keep it looking vintage.
“He knows where he can find the old wood that matches the floor from 1883,” Collier said.
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As far as the reward for the guns’ recovery, Collier plans to deliver lunch Feb. 26 to all of Olde West’s employees and Kosko and Soderfelt could be in the money.
“We’re giving $500 to Olde West and they can divide it up how they want. “We’re just going to give them five $100 bills,” Collier said.
Mike Chapman is an award-winning reporter and photographer for the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif. His newspaper career spans Yreka and Eureka in Northern California and Bellingham, Wash. Support local journalism by subscribing today.