The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged a Bonne Terre-area man for allegedly stealing a pickup from an Imperial apartment complex. Jared Tyler Kline, 33, allegedly confessed to the theft, according to court documents.
Kline was charged on July 1 with stealing a motor vehicle, a class D felony. He was arrested on July 15 and as of July 16, he was being held on a $100,000 bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court records show.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has requested the charge be considered a class C felony, which is punishable by three to 10 years in prison, because Kline is considered a persistent offender, court documents said.
Kline had been found guilty of 11 prior felony offenses, and in December 2024, he was charged for felony stealing in Iron County. He also was being monitored by a GPS device through the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole at the time of the alleged theft, and the device was used to connect him to the theft, according to court records.
The case’s probable-cause statement said at about 7 a.m. Jan. 28, a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche was stolen from an apartment complex in the 5300 block of Lakewood Terrace in Imperial. A man was allegedly seen in surveillance video getting out of a red Ford pickup and stealing the Avalanche.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office used Flock license-plate reading cameras to identify the other pickup as a 2009 Ford F-150. Investigators then contacted the De Soto Police because the F-150 was seen in De Soto, the report said.
De Soto Police officers at about 10:30 a.m. Jan. 28 located the F-150 and Avalanche at a home in the 500 block of Donna Drive, De Soto Police Capt. Jeffery Wynn said.
A person at the home allegedly told officers Kline had driven one of the pickups to the house. Investigators also used information from the GPS device to determine Kline had been near the apartment complex at the time of the theft and two locations the pickups was seen on Flock cameras, according to the report.
Investigators interviewed Kline on Feb. 3, and he allegedly admitted to stealing the Avalanche, the report said.