Joshua D. Preston, 36, and Kathryn E. Wilson, 38, both of Linn, were charged Friday with burglary in the second degree and stealing ($750 or more) following an arrest on CR 213 following alleged criminal activity Thursday at a residence on Hwy. N near Chamois.
A third individual, Duane Haslag, 43, of Chamois, was also booked but released pending charges.
According to a probable cause statement filed by the Mid Missouri Drug Task Force, an officer saw a Chevrolet S-10 known to be owned by Haslag backed into the driveway of what appeared to be an abandoned residence.
As the officer passed, he observed Haslag getting into the passenger side door of the vehicle and observed someone wearing a blacktop at the rear of the truck, as if placing or removing something from the bed of the truck.
The officer pulled into a driveway just north of the residence to contact an Osage County deputy and advise what he had witnessed. A short time later, he observed the S-10 traveling north on Highway N being driven by an unknown white male with Haslag in the passenger seat. The bed of the truck was mounded with a large number of rusty metal items. Cpt. Travis Shaffer was advised of the situation, and a short time later, Shaffer conducted a traffic stop on CR 213.
All three were handcuffed at the scene and later searched by the Mid Missouri Drug Task Force.
When asked if they knew the owner of the residence where they had been observed, or had permission to be on the property, the trio said no to both questions.
After being advised of their Miranda rights, Wilson requested an attorney and did not answer questions. Preston, however, told authorities that he had driven to the residence to see the bluffs behind it with his girlfriend, Wilson. He further said he did not know where the items had come from.
Haslag, however, told a different story. According to the PC statement, he said that Preston had driven to the residence and walked him and Wilson through the house and a shed located on the property. Haslag said Preston then told him to grab two buckets, one containing copper pipes and wires, and one containing deer skulls, that were located in the shed on the property. Haslag told officers he observed Preston use a ladder to climb onto the roof of the shed and cut the ground line. Haslag further noted that all of the items in the back of the truck, with the exception of an orange bike, had come from the residence on Hwy. N, adding that Preston told him and Wilson what to load into the truck.
The owner of the residence, who said the house had been empty since 2016, identified several items as his, including a black case that contained a trumpet, a kerosene heater, and a Craftsman 550 series pushmower.
Also located in the back of the truck were a grey bike, a braided ground cable approximately 15-foot long, a bucket of deer skulls, an antique plow, a bucket of copper pipe and wire, a hoe, a welding helmet, and other items.
All three individuals in the truck were mentioned in an intelligence briefing held Thursday as being involved in the buying and selling of methamphetamine and stolen property as well as being involved in burglaries.
Preston, who has two pending criminal cases involving theft.,is being held without bond, and a bond of $25,000 was set for Wilson.