Garrett Michael Flynn, 36, who lives west of De Soto, has been accused of stealing and crashing a van from a home he entered without permission in the Arnold area. He also allegedly attempted to break into another home in the same subdivision, according to court records.
Flynn on March 7 was charged with felony first-degree burglary, first-degree attempted burglary and stealing a motor vehicle. As of March 10, he was being held on a $100,000 bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court documents show.
According to the case’s probable-cause statement, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on March 7 was called to a home in the 3200 block of Meadowfield Drive, which is just west of Arnold’s city limits. Two residents were asleep at the home when Flynn allegedly entered the house through the garage and stole items from the home.
Flynn was allegedly seen in surveillance video inside the home, where he stole a key ring that had keys for a 2016 Toyota Sienna and the home, along with other items. He then was seen driving the van out of the garage, the report said.
Deputies found the van abandoned following a crash near I-55 and Hwy. 141. They also found a black jacket in the crashed Sienna, according to the report.
While talking with residents at the home where the van was stolen, deputies were approached by another man who lives in the neighborhood. He told deputies that someone had tried to forcefully enter his home by using a shovel that was wedged between his house’s storm door and interior door, the report said.
The man also told investigators when he went outside to see if someone was trying to get inside his house that night, he found a black jacket and other items on his car. However, after he went to look at the shovel wedged between his doors, the jacket and items were removed from the top of his car, according to the report.
The man said he found a cell phone near the door that someone used the shovel to try to open and gave it to the deputies. A deputy saw someone had sent a message to the phone, and when he called the phone number the message was sent from, a woman answered who said she was trying to contact Flynn, the report said.
The deputies investigating the burglary and attempted burglary learned a 2004 Dodge Ram was found abandoned following an accident in the 3800 block of Vogel Road, which is about a half mile from Meadowfield Drive. The deputies tracked the pickup’s owner to a home on Hill Drive, which is west of Arnold, according to the report.
The owner of the pickup, two other people and Flynn were at the Hill Drive home. The pickup’s owner said he and Flynn were in the Ram and abandoned it after the crash, and the two other people allegedly identified Flynn as the person in the surveillance video from the Meadowfield Drive home, the report said.
Flynn told the deputies he didn’t remember much after being in the pickup when it crashed on Vogel Road. He also denied being the person in surveillance videos from the homes on Meadowfield Drive, and suggested someone who looked like him must have stolen his phone and dropped it outside the house where someone used a shovel to try to pry open a door, according to the report.
After Flynn was arrested, deputies allegedly found an insurance card for the Sienna’s owner in his pocket. Flynn then allegedly told a deputy, “I guess it was me, man,” the report said.
The Sheriff’s Office reported it did not find the key ring from the home the Sienna was stolen from, and the ring had a key to the house.
The report also said Arnold Police also were investigating similar reports of attempted burglaries that day that occurred near the subdivision where the van was stolen. On March 10, Arnold Police Detective Lt. Jeremy Christopher said investigators are seeking charges against someone for the attempted burglaries, but he could not say who that person was until the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office files charges.