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LAUREL RUN BORO. — Pennsylvania State Police at Wilkes-Barre and Shickshinny arrested two men believed to be Russian immigrants residing in New York on allegations they burglarized a house trailer owned by a Russian immigrant who recently died in Russia.
Volodymyr Y. Komarnytskyy, 38, of Loch Shelrake, N.Y., and Vyacheslav Solomonov, 41, of Brooklyn, N.Y., were arrested when troopers found them inside a house trailer in Laurel Run Estates on Friday, according to court records.
It was the second time Komarnytskyy and Solomonov were at the house trailer as state police investigated an alleged burglary at the same location on Dec. 5, court records say.
The house trailer was owned by Nikolai Lagoduke, whose son Martin Lagoduke, contacted authorities when a surveillance camera inside the residence activated his cellular phone due to motion on Friday.
Martin Lagoduke, who is attending school outside the United States, told state police during a phone interview he did not know Komarnytskyy and Solomonov. Martin Lagoduke claimed his father traveled to Russia in November to settle affairs for a family member who died.
While in Russia, Martin Lagoduke told troopers his father became ill and also died.
During an interview using a Russian translator, Komarnytskyy told troopers Nikolai Lagoduke gave him power of attorney and had keys to the house trailer but the keys did not open the door. Komarnytskyy claimed when he learned of Nikolai Lagoduke’s death, he went to the house trailer with intentions of sending personal property back to Nikolai Lagoduke’s family in Russia, court records say.
Martin Lagoduke told troopers his father was an avid gold collector and kept a large amount of gold inside the house trailer, and owned two large estates in Russia, one in Moscow and another “near a forest.” Martin Lagoduke speculated the two men were trying to find documents or deeds to the Russian estates because, “Russia is the wild west,” according to court records.
State police said they found marijuana and firearms inside the house trailer.
Komarnytskyy and Solomonov were arraigned by District Judge James Dixon of Hazle Township on charges of burglary, criminal trespass and possession of drug paraphernalia. They were jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility without bail as Dixon deemed the two men flight risk.
Glass pipes commonly used to smoke marijuana were found inside a BMW operated by Komarnytskyy, court records say.