A second arrest has been made in Marion County in connection with a break-in where tools allegedly used in the incident were left in the bed of a vehicle sitting outside a court complex.
According to the probable cause affidavit, 25-year-old Levy McGee of Yellville has been charged with felony counts of breaking or entering and criminal mischief, as well as a misdemeanor count of theft.
Earlier, 26-year-old Dylan Statum of Summit was arrested and charged with the same offenses.
Statum is alleged to have driven his girlfriend’s truck to a mini storage in Yellville on Nov. 29th, where McGee is seen on video surveillance getting out of the vehicle. McGee is seen walking to a wooden box mounted on a building previously used for payments.
The Yellville man can be seen unscrewing and prying off the lock to the box, while hiding from passing traffic.
After getting the box open, McGee is seen crossing the driveway to the current payment box. Again hiding from passing traffic, McGee sticks what appeared to be a pry bar into the box in an attempt to open it. After several unsuccessful attempts, he leaves the camera’s view, returning over three hours later with the pry bar and a ball-peen hammer, successfully breaking into the box, reaching in and taking the contents.
On Dec. 3rd, Statum drove the truck suspected as being used in the theft to the Marion County Courthouse annex for a court appearance. While the truck was in the parking lot, officers noticed in the vehicle bed what appeared to be a pry bar and a ball-peen hammer matching the ones seen in the security video used to break into the payment box at the mini storage.
A short time later, Statum’s girlfriend arrived to pick up the truck, and the officers were given consent to search the vehicle for any evidence pertaining to the break-in at the mini storage.
During the consent search, no monetary evidence pertaining to the break-in was found. However, the ball-peen hammer and pry bar were photographed and seized as evidence.
At the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Statum, who had been ordered to jail earlier in the day for an unrelated matter, allegedly admitted to driving McGee to the area of the mini storage, dropping him off and picking him up at a later time.
The two men allegedly burned checks from the mini storage payment box in the parking lot of a Yellville motel.
Bonds for the two were set at $10,000.
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