A Jefferson City man was charged with stealing hundreds of dollars worth of items from the local Kohl's store this week.
Earle Key, 44, was arrested Tuesday evening after the Jefferson City Police Department received a call from Kohl's employees about a man stealing clothing from the store. Witnesses told responding officers a man had left the store with around $500 in stolen merchandise, a probable cause statement said.
The witnesses provided a license plate number for the car the suspect left in, and officers found Key had been stopped in the same vehicle in the past. One witness identified Key from a photo, while another described him accurately without seeing an image.
Authorities located his vehicle along the 1100 block of Buena Vista and took Key into custody from a nearby apartment. He admitted to stealing the items, according to the statement, and a search of the residence allegedly revealed several items from the store.
Key has five prior stealing charges and was already on probation from past theft incidents, court records show. He was also said to have failed to appear on three warrants in the past three years.