A Crocker man has been sentenced to prison in connection with a burglary at a Jefferson City business in September 2018.
Arnold Hall, 55, pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary, first-degree tampering and fraudulent use of a debit device during a Wednesday hearing before Cole County Judge Jon Beetem.
Hall was ordered to serve 120 days of shock incarceration and pay restitution of $10,000.
Brandon Smith, 26, also from Crocker, is charged with second-degree burglary and first-degree tampering for his involvement in the case. His case is scheduled to be in court next month.
William Loveall, 39, of Crocker, pleaded guilty in November to two counts of second-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree tampering and one count of felony stealing for his involvement in this case. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
The burglary occurred just before 1 a.m. Sept. 2, 2018, at Central Electric Cooperative on Jefferson Street, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement.
Security camera video shows Loveall and Hall entering a building where several fleet vehicles for the cooperative were parked. Around 3 a.m., Loveall and Hall are seen in two separate vehicles belonging to the cooperative. At 9:35 a.m., Loveall and Smith returned to the cooperative and later left, taking two more vehicles belonging to the cooperative.
One of the vehicles was stopped in Iberia a few days after the burglary. Hall was the driver, and Loveall was the passenger. A search of the vehicle turned up other items stolen from the cooperative on the night the break-in occurred. Authorities later were notified of photographs that showed Hall using a debit card taken from one of the stolen vehicles.
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 in Lebanon. Loveall said he didn't steal the vehicle.
Court records show Loveall was out on probation and parole at the time of his arrest and he had a "substantial history of violence and property crimes."
Smith was taken into custody after being identified from security camera footage which allegedly showed him taking one of the Central Electric Cooperative vehicles. He was spotted at a gas station in Iberia, and gas station security camera footage shows Smith wearing the same clothes he was seen in at the time of the burglary.