A Crocker man has been sentenced to five years in prison for pleading guilty to charges in connection with a burglary at a Jefferson City business.
William Loveall, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree tampering and one count of felony stealing during a hearing before Cole County Judge Dan Green.
The burglary occurred in September at Central Electric Cooperative on Jefferson Street, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement.
Security camera video showed Loveall and another man entering a building where several fleet vehicles for the cooperative were parked. Loveall and the man are then seen leaving in two separate vehicles belonging to the cooperative. Loveall and the other man later returned to the cooperative and left, taking two more vehicles belonging to the cooperative.
One of the vehicles taken was later stopped in Iberia. Loveall was a passenger in the vehicle. A search of the vehicle turned up other items stolen from the cooperative on the night of the break-in.
When questioned by authorities, Loveall denied being directly involved in the break-in but gave investigators the location of one of the vehicles stolen; it was located in Lebanon. Loveall said he didn’t actually steal the vehicle.
Court records indicate Loveall was out on probation and parole at the time of his arrest, and he has a “substantial history of violence and property crimes.”