Burglars broke into or attempted to break into a pair of Lake County businesses early Tuesday morning before driving a stolen vehicle into another business and leaving with several firearms.

Lake County Undersheriff Dan Yonkin said the first call came in at about 4:30 a.m. that Ronan Sports and Western had been burglarized, followed by a call at 5:15 a.m. that Depoe Junction pawn shop in Polson had been hit.

At 6:01 a.m., the Sheriff’s Office received a call from an alarm company that a break-in alarm had been triggered at Westland Seed in Ronan.

The first deputy arrived on the scene just three minutes later — joined by two other deputies and a tribal officer within the next three minutes — to discover that the suspects had driven a stolen courtesy car from the Ronan City Airport through the glass doors and security gate.

The car was still in gear and running, but the perpetrators were nowhere to be found. They are believed to have fled in a second vehicle.

According to Yonkin, nothing was taken from the first two businesses, but several firearms were stolen from Westland Seed. He said the circumstances of the crimes were “certainly not a common occurrence.”

“We’ve had some people drive into buildings before, but typically it’s because they’re too intoxicated and it’s an accident,” Yonkin said. “I can’t think of a time that a person’s used a car as a battering ram to get in the front door.”

Yonkin asked that anyone with information about the burglaries call Crimestoppers at 883-7309.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at [email protected].