Excelsior Springs police track down suspect involved in string of car thefts
'Twelve of those were just property damage where he had tried to steal them, went through their vehicle, and stole items from their vehicle,' said Lt. Ryan Dowdy with the Excelsior Springs Police Department. 'Then the other three were successful vehicle thefts where he was able to take the car for some period of time.'
The first car break-in was reported on December 17.
Dowdy said the 15-year-old suspect targeted Hyundais and Kias in parking lots off Jesse James Road.
Drowning suspected after children found dead in Linn County lake
In recent years, Kia and Hyundai cars have been hit more nationwide after viral videos showed how easy certain models are to steal or break into.
A big piece of the puzzle was surveillance footage given to police that showed the teen wearing a mask and the same pair of shoes during the thefts.
During the investigation, officers learned that the suspect would steal a car, drive around for a little while, and then drop the stolen car off near the original location from which it was stolen.
The stolen vehicles were also left with damage.
'I can't explain how valuable video and surveillance cameras are to someone's house and protecting them. And then, if you are a victim of a crime, turning that (footage) into the police,' Dowdy said.
During the investigation, police received a call from a mom who lived in the area.
'So what happened was his mom called. It was just another kind of routine call where she didn't know that he was committing these thefts, but she called wanting help with another issue regarding parenting and just some advice,' Dowdy said. 'So one of our officers went over there, and while they were speaking, the mom was kind of mentioning some behavioral problems with the child.'
During the conversation, the officer noticed the same pair of shoes the suspect wore in the surveillance footage.
'He started putting two and two together. He was in the center location where we'd been looking for him (the suspect). The officer asked if he could look around the kid's room. At that point, they found some stolen debit cards, some stolen driver's licenses, and things of that nature. They waited for him to come home. Once he came home with mom there, officers spoke to him, and they were able to get him to admit what he had been doing,' Dowdy explained.
Dowdy said similar thefts have started happening in nearby Wood Heights.
ESPD has contacted law enforcement in that area, letting them know it could be the same suspect.
'We think that based on where those vehicles were stolen, where we know now that he was going to, that he's probably their suspect,' Dowdy said.
Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android
Dowdy said all of the cars impacted by break-ins or theft were left unlocked.
Here are some tips from ESPD about how to prevent theft:
Always lock your car.
If you drive a car susceptible to theft, Such as a Kia or Hyundai, you should utilize aftermarket devices like steering wheel locks.
If you drive a car susceptible to theft, you can park a different vehicle behind it to deter thieves.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
7 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Third man charged in teen's ‘17 drug robbery death
As Anthony Triplett was set to get out of prison for killing a 14-year-old boy, charges were unsealed July 21 for a different criminal case for Diego Serna's Nov. 2, 2017 death in Gary's Miller section. Triplett, 27, of Gary, is the third man charged in Serna's killing. The case has been delayed for years. He has pleaded not guilty. His next hearing is Sept. 11. Against his better instincts, a 20-year-old man went to a Gary apartment complex on Nov. 2, 2017, to sell 1.5 ounces of marijuana to Augustus 'Gus' Johnson, his then-Hammond Walmart co-worker, charges allege. It was a setup. The man ended up seriously wounded and his friend, Serna, 16, of Hammond, was killed. Gary Police responded to the Marquette Apartments, 405 South Huntington St. They found Serna, who appeared lifeless, on his stomach. The marijuana dealer survived. Johnson, now 48, is awaiting sentencing after signing a plea deal in 2021. At various points, prosecutors filed to squash the deal, then go forward with it. He told police that he, another Walmart co-worker, Triplett, talked about robbing the dealer months earlier. That evening, they picked up co-defendant Marcell Ellison in East Chicago. At the Gary apartments, as the marijuana dealer approached Johnson's car, Triplett came up behind him and fired four shots, charges state. Ellison also fired shots toward the man. Johnson told police he was the getaway driver. Ellison's trial is set in November. The case was further complicated after the original detective got indicted in a federal child porn case. It has since been reassigned to a different investigator. Former Gary Police Det. James Bond, 52, of Crown Point, a former deputy chief, commander and homicide supervisor, was indicted in September 2024 after soliciting an explicit video from a 17-year-old boy working as a city intern in the police department last summer. Investigators found a latent cached screenshot on his iPhone. Triplett was sentenced in December 2021 for killing 14-year-old Arion Lilly, who was shot in the back after leaving a barber shop, lawyers said. Triplett said he was fleeing another car shooting at him and didn't mean to hit the boy.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Police release video of alleged attempted abduction inside mall
The Fairfax County Police Department released video of an alleged attempted child abduction. (Credit: Fairfax County Police Department) Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
a day ago
- New York Times
Grief Pervades a Somber Farewell to a Slain Police Officer
The sky opened, unleashing a torrent of rain. The thick drops fell heavily over a three-story mosque, soaking the ranks of Police Department officers who stood on the street outside. The Thursday afternoon downpour washed over the funeral of Didarul Islam, 36, an officer slain by a gunman in the heart of New York. As the speeches and prayers came to an end, water poured down, soaking dress uniforms and kurtas alike. The funeral, held in the Parkchester Jame Masjid, on a residential street in Mr. Islam's Bronx neighborhood, came three days after Mr. Islam was killed in the city's deadliest single shooting in 25 years. The shooting broke out on Monday, when a gunman entered an office building at 345 Park Avenue carrying an assault-style rifle and began shooting, killing Mr. Islam and then two others. He then headed to the 33rd floor, where he killed a fourth person and then took his own life. The attacker, who had traveled across the country from his home in Nevada, had intended to target the headquarters of the National Football League, the authorities said. The funeral drew hundreds of police officers from at least 54 of the city's 77 precincts, and more still from neighboring states and counties. It transformed the quiet neighborhood. Around the mosque, the streets were empty of cars. A 50-foot American flag, propped on two fully extended fire truck ladders, hung above the 6 train tracks a few blocks away. A jumbo screen on the back of a truck flashed an image of Mr. Islam holding his young son, with his Police Department uniform hat askew on the little boy's head. Snipers stood in position on buildings nearby. On the sidewalks, the officers mixed with crowds of women in hijabs and men in skullcaps; it was an intermingled sea of navy high-crowned hats and multicolored head coverings. The scene represented the diversifying face of a Police Department that once had been overwhelmingly white. But it was also a fitting celebration of the life of a man who had immigrated from Bangladesh and given his life to protect the city he now called home. 'Didarul Islam came to this country as an immigrant with no guarantees, only the hope that hard work, that humility, and that purpose might lead him somewhere meaningful,' Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during her remarks at the funeral. 'And it did.' The funeral rituals, which stretched nearly four hours in punishing summer humidity, began with viewings, first for women; then for men; then a private viewing for police executives and family and friends. By 10:30 a.m., more than a hundred women, most of them officers in uniform, had formed a line on the sidewalk next to the mosque, waiting to enter. All had to wear head scarves; one woman who came unprepared borrowed one. The room was bedecked with floral wreaths and an American flag. But the focus was a casket that lay covered with the green-white-and-blue standard of the Police Department. A group of more than a dozen women and children sat quietly before it, while women, both uniformed and plainclothes police, wept quietly around them. The hushed tones of Bangla and English filtered through the air. Just after noon, city and state officials, officers and community members packed a room in the mosque, side by side on the floor. Mayor Eric Adams spoke; Zohran Mamdani, who is running against him in the November election, sat with the family. Commissioner Tisch spoke of the officer with barely restrained emotion. He had come to New York City from Bangladesh at the age of 20. He was a stalwart husband and father. He lived in a small brick house with his parents, his sons, 5 and 7, and his wife, Jamila Akhter, who is pregnant with their third child and expected to deliver in a few weeks. Her eulogy for her husband, read aloud for her in the service, said Mr. Islam had 'lived to help others.' 'He gave his life protecting them,' she wrote. 'Though my heart is broken, I find comfort knowing that his sacrifice might have saved others.' Mr. Islam had served in the department for just three and half years, but in that short time, he had done the job of an officer with twice as much experience, Commissioner Tisch said. He had joined the force after working two years as a safety agent in city public schools. He worked hard at his police job — long shifts and then more work as a security guard in his time off, all to bring a little more home. A promotion had been in his future, a fellow officer said. On Sunday, Mr. Islam had worked 'more than a full tour' at the Dominican Day Parade in the Bronx, and on Monday, he picked up an extra shift at 345 Park Avenue. 'He stepped into a new land and chose to become part of its promise, to believe in its dream. And he did believe in the American dream, not as something handed down but as something built with your own hands,' said Commissioner Tisch, who wore a black head scarf as she addressed the crowd inside the mosque. 'He may not be here to see that dream fulfilled, but his sons will surely grow up with its foundation beneath their feet.' Mr. Islam cared deeply about his Muslim faith, his friends and colleagues said in their eulogies. But he 'lived at a time when people like him are too often feared, vilified and made to feel like outsiders,' said Imam Dr. Zakir Ahmed of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York. 'We cannot honor Officer Islam today while ignoring the daily pain endured by his community — being told to go back where you came from, being watched more closely, judged more harshly and loved less fully,' Imam Ahmed said. 'To our city, our nation, you cannot ask us to serve and then silence us,' he said. 'You cannot take our sacrifice and ignore our suffering.' Murmurs of agreement echoed through the mosque. Outside, where the heat was stifling, hundreds of people craned to hear the service through speakers. Rows of mourners set up prayer mats and knelt to the ground. Several Police Academy cadets became overwhelmed by the heat and were escorted away. Two police officers fainted. The speeches concluded, and then the prayers. Outside, hundreds of officers lined up for a processional, the conclusion of the service. An officer walked down the ranks, pointing to the ground, reminding officers, 'toes on the line.' Then came the rain. First droplets, then a downpour. Six police officers emerged from the mosque carrying the flag-cloaked casket on their shoulders. They paused momentarily in front of a screen showing photos of Officer Islam and his children before sliding the coffin into an awaiting white hearse. Hundreds of officers stood motionless. Not one had an umbrella. A parade of police motorcycles revved, kicking off the procession that would soon carry Mr. Islam's body to its final resting place at a cemetery in New Jersey. A detective who had brought her 3-year-old daughter guided the child's hand to her head in a salute. 'We have to say goodbye to Officer Islam,' she said to the girl. The rain now came in torrents. The white hearse took off toward the Cross Bronx Expressway, crossing beneath the elevated 6 train station. A Manhattan bound train passed overheard and as the vehicles crossed paths, let out a long mournful horn salute. Mr. Islam's hearse headed on toward the cemetery. Maria Cramer, Ashley Ahn, Matthew Haag Fahima Haque and Wesley Parnell contributed reporting.
