Thief

BRANSON, Mo. -- A Taney County sheriff’s deputy's badge is missing after a home break-in.  The Branson police chief says it happened sometime over the weekend while the deputy and his family were away. The thief alo took ammunition, jewelry, TVs and clothing.  No weapons were stolen.  Police are investigating leads.

LAWRENCE, Mass.-- You hear stories about stealing from City Hall. But maybe not this kind of loot. Police have arrested a man for stealing rolls and rolls of toilet paper from inside the Lawrence, Massachusetts City Hall. Surveillance camera video shows the suspect stealing a box full of toilet paper on more than one occasion. When police took the 53-year-old suspect into the police station, he had six rolls of toilet paper tucked into his pants. Investigators say he's been charged with theft.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- Police are always asking citizens to be their extra sets of eyes and ears to help fight crime, especially in neighborhoods. A man recently became the long arm of the law after spotting a teenager rifling through the inside of his vehicle. Woody Batten spends his days picking up what others throw out. He never dreamed he'd also be picking up a package for police. This month, Batten was getting ready to leave for work when he noticed a bandit going through his vehicle.

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas, -- A Kansas family is fuming after someone snatched a donation jar that was put out to collect money to help Joplin tornado victims. Last Wednesday in the sweltering heat, Michelle Guenther, along with her son and daughter, stood in a Wal-Mart parking lot-- just as they had done everyday before in the month of July. They had posters and a jug asking people to help the tornado victims, but two men had something else in mind.  With one in a waiting car, a second man walked into the store, waited a few seconds, came out, and started running.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.--  Summer time is always a prime time for thieves.  Property crime rates always rise with the temperatures. Springfield police show that last year, there were 1,025 cars stolen within city limits. So far this year, there has been almost 500. Thefts are seldom caught on tape, but one from last Wednesday was. It was a trailer stolen from the Mexican Villa maintenance shop.  The rightful owner is hoping someone knows who took it. Tony Cascio is one man behind the good food.  He's no chef, but he keeps Mexican Villa up and running.

TOPEKA, Kan. -  Police in Topeka are trying to figure out who stole between $200,000 and $500,000 from a Walmart hours after the "Black Friday" sales ended. Surveillance video inside an office in the back of the store shows the suspect calmly stealing the money Saturday morning around 3 a.m.  The thief did it in six minutes without being confronted by a single store employee.  Security cameras also caught him leaving the store. Police say they don't think any employees were involved.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Crime Stoppers and the Springfield Police Department ask for help identifying the man who stole merchandise from a store at Battlefield Mall and then fought with security officers who tried to stop him.  The crime occurred on Aug. 29 at 4:19 p.m. at Sears. Security saw the man steal merchandise and then leave the store.  They pursued him as he fled to an awaiting silver, two-door sports car driven by a woman.  There was a physical altercation between the thief and security officers until the thief was able to flee in the vehicle.  None of the security officers were hurt.

HARRISON, Ark. - City police are investigating the theft of keys to 65 vehicles from a car lot.  Andy Yeager says he may have to re-key each of the vehicles. The dealership manager says nothing else was taken and it appears the culprit knew where to look.  Some of the vehicles are locked and can't be moved. ---- KY3 News will have more on this story on KY3 News at 6 on Wednesday.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man was arrested after a standoff with police early Friday.   It turns out he is one of three teenagers who police suspect of a burglary this week in which guns and ammunition were stolen. The standoff started after officers were called to a theft at a convenience store in the 200 block of South Kansas Expressway, between College and Walnut streets, just before 1:30 a.m.  When police arrived, the thief jumped into a vehicle and was driven to a friend's house in the 600 block of South Wabash Avenue, near Kansas at Mount Vernon.  The man holed up in the house until police convinced him to come out about 90 minutes later.  He is Qwenten Amlin, 19.  On Thursday, he and two other teenagers were the subject of a Crime Stoppers bulletin for the burglary on Tuesday.  As of Friday, the other two teens were still at large.  They are Wince Summers Jr, 18, and Tevin Williams, 17.   They were not charged with the burglary or thefts as of Friday afternoon.

JOPLIN, Mo. -- A thief has made off with a utility vehicle donated to the Joplin High School marching band through a tornado relief fund. Police say the 2009 John Deere Gator and the attached trailer were taken Tuesday afternoon.  The band only had the vehicle since Friday.  They bought it with money raised by other local bands.  That check was presented during a marching competition in Webb City last month. A local dealer is offering to lend the band another one.

NIXA, Mo. - Three people have been taken into custody after a series of vehicle break-ins, one of which was believed to also involve stealing a handgun, and a subsequent chase. According to a news release, deputies with the Christian County Sheriff's Office and officers with the Nixa Police Department were called to Highway CC at 1:18 a.m. after a 911 caller from Turnberry Estates near Ozark reported seeing a man break into a car and take a handgun. The caller to 911 reported being shot at while pursuing the alleged thief at Fremont Road and Route CC, and while maintaining contact with 911. After the caller backed off the chase, Nixa police intercepted the vehicle after it went south on Main from Route CC. Police took three people into custody and recovered electronics from several vehicles, according to the release.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. --  Security video from a hobby shop in the Brentwood Center shows a thief making off with thousands of dollars in merchandise.  The store owner said it happened ON Monday night, and the merchandise stolen added up to a full month's worth of profits for his business. "They knew what they were looking for, had obviously been in here before, figured out how they were going to take it," said Tim Weyers, the owner of Hobbytown USA. Weyers said security images captured Monday night show the man picking up two $1,200 model cars and placing them by the back door, in anticipation of a quick getaway.

SPRINGFIELD, --  A suspected thief is dead and a detective is recovering from an early-morning shooting. It all happened Near Grand and Clifton in Springfield. Officer Travis Wilson was grazed in his lower back with a bullet. He was just one of the many officers setting up a search warrant. They believe the suspect stole a truck, wrecked it, then walked to the home. Thanks to the recent ice storm, police could follow the suspect's shoe tracks from the truck to the home. Police say the suspect was involved with a string of burglaries starting at a car lot off Chestnut Expressway.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- Identity theft has become a huge problem in the digital age, with 20-percent of Americans saying they've been victimized. It's no laughing matter, unless the person who stole your life was in the movie "Bridesmaids. " Local movie review guy Aaron Dicer gives us his opinion on the movie.  Watch the video for his take! Plus, see more of his movie reviews at his Web-site .

HOLLISTER, Mo. -- White River Valley Electric Cooperative restored power to about 200 customers Wednesday morning after an attempted copper theft. WRVEC says the thieves dug a series of holes to steal copper off a telephone cable.  Instead, they hit a power line.  Jeff Pardeck, a spokesman for White River Valley Electric, says the thief likely was injured because his tools were abandoned at the site.  The power company says a ground wire may have saved his life.  

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.--   Homeowners beware.  Thieves have been targeting homes during broad daylight, trying to get in while you are gone. An elderly lady was hit a couple weeks ago at her home near the Battlefield Mall. Now thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, and her sense of security are missing. "We grew up in an era where we felt safe in our own home... where we were not violated in our home. "  Now, this elderly lady is too frightened to show her face on camera, or even give us her real name.  "I came home at 2:30p.m., I had been gone for about 4 hours over the noon hour," the homeowner said.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man was arrested after a standoff with police early Friday.   It turns out he is one of three teenagers who police suspect of a burglary this week in which guns and ammunition were stolen. The standoff started after officers were called to a theft at a convenience store in the 200 block of South Kansas Expressway, between College and Walnut streets, just before 1:30 a.m.  When police arrived, the thief jumped into a vehicle and was driven to a friend's house in the 600 block of South Wabash Avenue, near Kansas at Mount Vernon.  The man holed up in the house until police convinced him to come out about 90 minutes later.  He is Qwenten Amlin, 19.  On Thursday, he and two other teenagers were the subject of a Crime Stoppers bulletin for the burglary on Tuesday.  As of Friday, the other two teens were still at large.  They are Wince Summers Jr, 18, and Tevin Williams, 17.   They were not charged with the burglary or thefts as of Friday afternoon.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.--  Homes are being broken into all over Springfield. Police are working several right now, but they say they don't think it's an organized "ring" of thieves.  There have been 145 of them reported in the last 30 days, all over the city. One lady got hit Sunday afternoon in broad daylight. "I don't know why he was so brazen that he was willing to stand there-- peering in my window for such a long time," said Connie Clemenson. Someone was staring into her back window as Clemenson was just sitting in her recliner, watching T.V. on Sunday.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Edward John Maher, arrested while living in Ozark in February on weapons and fraud charges, is now in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a motion was filed in federal court this morning for his release from the custody of federal marshals. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Missouri, Maher's attorneys filed a motion for Maher's release. The motion asked that custody of Maher be transferred to ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Greene County was sentenced in federal court on Friday for illegally possessing firearms and for counterfeiting after two separate incidents involving police pursuits in stolen vehicles.  In one chase, he rammed another vehicle, fired a shotgun and attempted to carjack two vehicles. U.S. District Judge Ortie Smith sentenced Timothy Sparks to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison without parole.  Sparks pleaded guilty last Oct. 18. Sparks admitted he broke into a home in Strafford on Dec. 17, 2009, and stole several items, including two rifles and a shotgun.