Nicholas Daniel Chapman, 34, of Pacific has been accused of multiple felony crimes in Jefferson County. He allegedly burglarized a home north of Hillsboro where he helped install flooring and broke into vehicles and stole a pickup in the Pacific area, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
On April 22, Chapman was charged with three counts of felony second-degree burglary first offense of unlawful entry into a motor vehicle; two counts of felony stealing a firearm; one felony count each of second-degree burglary, stealing, first-degree attempted burglary, first-degree property damage, damage to a motor vehicle with intent to steal, first-degree burglary and stealing a motor vehicle; and misdemeanor charges of second-degree property damage, stealing and stealing less than $150, according to court documents.
He was arrested on May 4, and as of May 8, he was being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court and jail records show.
According to a probable-cause statement filed by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called on April 11 to home in the 6100 block of Clayton Huskey Road north of Hillsboro after a woman who lives at the home found the front door had been forced open overnight.
The resident said a Browning safe that had $10,000 worth of silver coins stored inside it, along with an Iron Horse portable air compressor, Metabo air nailer and a Bostitch air nailer were stolen. The estimated value of the stolen items was $11,700, the report said.
The woman said her trail camera captured images of Chapman, who she recognized because he had helped install flooring at the home on April 3. The trail camera also had pictures of a U-Haul truck that had a Venus Fly Trap decal on it, and the woman had more pictures of Chapman working in the home, according to the report.
Investigators used the images that showed Chapman working in the home to match the shoes he was wearing to a distinctive shoe print that was found on the kicked door at the home. Investigators also used the Flock license-plate reading camera system to trace the U-Haul back to where it was rented and discovered Chapman had rented the truck, the report said.
Investigators contacted the flooring company that was hired to work at the Hillsboro-area home, and the company’s owner and subcontracted company owner confirmed Chapman worked on the flooring project. The owners also said Chapman was never instructed to return to the home, according to the report.
The Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant to investigate Chapman’s Google search records. They discovered Chapman had searched the Hillsboro-area home’s address five times on April 9, and that he had searched for a large amount of different coin values from April 13-15, the report said.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant on April 15 for a home in the 3700 block of Windfall Place in Catawissa, where the U-Haul truck had been located. Before the search warrant could be executed, unknown people fled from the home in the U-Haul, according to the report.
The U-Haul was found abandoned in the 40 block of Fairlane East in Pacific, the Sheriff’s Office reported. The case’s probable-cause statement said the Iron Horse air compressor stolen from the Hillsboro-area home was located during the execution of the search warrant and returned to the victim.
On April 15, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was contacted about burglaries near where the U-Haul was found abandoned, the report said.
A Sheriff’s Office spokesman said those burglaries occurred in the 8800 block of John McKeever Road and 3800 block of Hwy. FF.
Chapman was allegedly seen in surveillance video wearing a black varsity jacket with “Holloway” stitched on it that was stolen from one vehicle on April 15. Investigators also identified Chapman by a tattoo on his left arm, according to the report.
Along with allegedly stealing the jacket from a vehicle on John McKeever Road, Chapman is accused of stealing two guns worth a combined $3,000, a jar with $100 worth of quarters inside it, a $25 Craftsman tool bag, a key to a 2001 Ford worth $50 and a key to a 2006 Ford F-250 worth $50. He also allegedly damaged another vehicle while attempting to steal it, the report said.
Chapman also allegedly stole a 2001 Ford F-250, which was worth an estimated $15,000, from Hwy. FF. The pickup was found crashed, and it allegedly had the stolen varsity jacket inside it, according to the report.
Investigators discovered Chapman’s cell phone was in the vicinity of the burglaries on John McKeever Road and Hwy. FF on April 15, the probable-cause statement said.
“I’m proud of the work done by our investigators,” Sheriff Dave Marshak said in a statement announcing the charges filed against Chapman. “Getting criminals like this off the streets makes Jefferson County safer and helps deliver justice to the victims.”
According to court records, Chapman is a persistent offender. He was found guilty at least two other felonies in Gasconade County.
Chapman was found guilty of felony burglary in April 2017 and of third-degree domestic assault in January 2022, court records said.