Tow leads to burglary arrest

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

POPLAR BLUFF -- Information from a tow-truck driver helped authorities arrest a suspected burglar and recover guns and electronics stolen from at least two local homes.

"The homeowners returned home from vacation and found their house had been broken into," explained Butler County Deputy Travis Huddleston. " ... Their truck had been stolen (along with) numerous electronics and firearms."

The burglary was discovered Saturday at a home on County Road 309, located off Highway 53, Huddleston said.

The next day, Huddleston said, the homeowner(s) were talking about the burglary with a neighbor, who "realized he towed the car that had done" the burglary.

"The suspects, when leaving the scene, had a flat on their vehicle," Huddleston said. The tire, he said, was shredded, with the "lugs stripped off the studs."

"They called for a tow truck; while the tow company was responding, out of desperation, they went back and stole the victims' vehicle," Huddleston said.

The tow truck arrived just after midnight July 2, and "when he towed the car to Alan's Muffler, they followed" in the alleged stolen 1999 Chevrolet S-10 pickup, Huddleston said.

While at the muffler shop, the alleged suspects, "off loaded" the alleged stolen property into the truck, Huddleston said.

That's when he saw the items and recognized some as belonging to his neighbors, Huddleston said.

The tow driver, the deputy said, provided authorities with the tow sheet, which included a name -- Brett Robert McKinney -- and an address in the 1500 block of North Fifth Street.

McKinney, Huddleston said, was contacted at his home, arrested on suspicion of second-degree burglary, booked at the Butler County jail.

A search warrant subsequently was applied for and executed at about 1:45 a.m. Monday, Huddleston said.

While inside McKinney's home, Huddleston said, deputies "saw items from the burglary laying in the floor of the living room."

Huddleston described the recovered property as including three rifles, three pistols, numerous tools, a TV, about nine laptop computers, five wireless printers, multiple gaming systems and accessories and a large quantity of gold and antique jewelry. Among the jewelry, he said, was a 1955 class ring with initials on it.

"We believe we recovered all the victims' property," Huddleston said. "One of the other firearms already has been discovered stolen from a city case, and they are investigating it."

Huddleston said authorities are continuing their search for two others -- a male and a female -- in connection with the County Road 309 burglary.

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