BENTON -- A married Oran couple are being held in the Scott County Jail in connection with a rash of business and residential burglaries that started late last year.
Keith D. Chapman, 44, is charged with possession of a controlled substance, five counts of burglary in the second degree, five counts of stealing, possession of burglar tools, unlawful use of a weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond is set at $150,000.
Lori D. Chapman, 40, is charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia in a county jail, and five counts of receiving stolen property.
According to the sheriff's department, the burglaries began in October 2004 in the Morley area when two businesses and an unoccupied residence were burglarized. As the burglaries continued, it appeared the targets were primarily unoccupied residences in the Morley area. Burglaries then began to occur in Chaffee and Oran areas and appeared to be connected to the Morley burglaries.
Investigators with the Scott County Sheriff's Department, Morley Police Department and Chaffee Police Department combined resources and spent numerous hours attempting to find who was responsible for the burglaries. At about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Deputy Bobby Penrod and Morley Police Chief Andy Childers stopped a suspicious vehicle in Morley.
Upon being given consent to search, officers located illegal narcotics and paraphernalia in the vehicle. During the search, numerous articles were located inside the vehicle that were taken from a residential burglary near Oran earlier during the day.
A subsequent search of the couple's residence in Oran revealed a large number of items that have been identified as property taken from burglaries in Morley, Oran and Chaffee.
Sheriff Rick Walter said it was hard work and dedication of investigating officers, especially Penrod and Childers, that brought the closure of the difficult investigation.