On May 20th, Mike and Elaine Krueger's life would change abruptly. Mike explained that he and his wife were at their ranch when his renter called him to tell him his shop was on fire. They rushed to town where the fire department was hurrying to put out a fire that had been started in the rear of the gun shop.

Ravaged by arson, the only sporting goods store in town was destroyed leaving only soot and disappointment. I was invited by Mike Kreuger to see what was left of his store after someone started an intentional fire two months ago. He said many people had no idea that he had a fire and that his business was closed. Walking in, the stench of a burned building was overpowering. Once beautiful Elk and Sheep mounts ruined with soot and singe were still hanging heartbreakingly on the wall.

"Supposedly," Mike continues, "this is what we have heard, there were two guys staying at the Autumn's Inn, and one guy went out and shoplifted supposedly at the liberty," Mike exasperates, "anyhow they went back to the hotel, plugged all the sinks, drains, and turned on all the water and trashed the room. Then the guy came down here and they think he was trying to get in and he couldn't get in so he started the back room of the building on fire to cover him in order to get away." "It is all speculation", Mike says, "because I haven't heard anything since May 20th. I lost of over 100,000 dollars in inventory plus mounts". Mike says he had no insurance, so it is all a total loss with the exception of some inventory that was saved that he hopes to sell.

Mike and Elaine Krueger moved to Montana in the 1980's from Nebraska. Mike came with the dream of becoming an outfitter. He did this for several years after coming to Montana. In 2000, he and his wife moved to Roundup, even doing some outfitting locally, and eventually began what would become Roundups only gun shop. Eventually, Mike picked up tackle and other various sporting good items.

Mike was hoping to retire soon. He had just gotten his Covid Vaccine, when a week later he ended up in the hospital with Covid. He got double pneumonia, and had just been home a week from that when the fire happened. A difficult end to his life's work.

Mike wants to thank the hard work of the fire department, who he said did a fantastic job, and thank the firemen for saving what they could of his inventory. He is planning to auction the rest of his sellable inventory as a way to retrieve something back from the loss. He hopes that any interested party will keep their eyes open for an upcoming auction, but is not sure of the date as it is taking time to clean and go through what is left of his merchandise.

Scott, the manager of Autumns Inn was able to verify that this subject and an older companion had stayed at the Autumn's Inn and had indeed flooded two motel rooms, the upstairs room and the one below. Scott said the room was paid for in cash and that his employees who checked them in had also been paid a one hundred dollar deposit by the subjects companion. Scott said the room was so destroyed that he had to rip sheetrock and insulation out and redo both rooms and turn customers away that had booked the next day. Scott did verify that the sheriff's department had arrested this individual, and he confirmed that it was the same man who had started the fire in Mike's shop.

According to Scott, the subject had stolen a bike or car before going to Liberty Gas Station and shoplifting there, then continuing on to the gun shop. It is believed the subject was from Washington.

I spoke to Sheriff Lesnik who verified that the subject whose last name is Wong, was indeed arrested and as recently as this last week was released back into our county on his own recognizance by our county attorney, Kevin Peterson. Yes, the same Kevin Peterson that released the now infamous McClure on his own recognizance, who then went on to kill an innocent man, also resulting in his own demise and the destruction of a family home.

Lura Pitman

It's hard to imagine where the next move would have been for this subject had he not been arrested. At any rate a livelihood was lost in one single night, and losses to others. The chaos of one selfish individual has many ripples. Thankfully most people in our community are upstanding citizens who help each other out. We are never assured of security or prosperity, and sometimes life can turn upside-down in an instant. We hope that things will pick up for Mike and Elaine, and Scott at the Autumn's Inn, and that the coming days will be better.