Burglary suspect reportedly crashes truck returning home from break-in

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Photo: Michael Lewis Maloy

A warrant has been issued for a Howell County suspect in connection with an early November break-in of Roy’s Store in Dora and the theft of several items from the business.

The Ozark County Times reports 32-year-old Michael Lewis Maloy of Willow Springs has been charged with burglary and theft of items in the case.

Maloy could be sentenced to up to four years in prison for each of the charges, if convicted.

According to a probable cause statement, the responding deputy found the glass window in the front of the building broken at the scene on Nov. 9.

Employees said they arrived for work to find the broken window and the discovery of missing items.

Store security camera footage reportedly reveals Maloy at 2:20 a.m. breaking the front window. In addition, the video footage reportedly shows Maloy taking individual packs and full cartoons of cigarettes, several bottles of alcohol and blocks of deli meat and cheese. Employees estimated the value of the total items stolen to be around $800.



Photo: Courtesy Roy’s Store via Ozark County Times. Taken from the Roy’s Store security video footage around 2:20 a.m. Nov. 9 when the store was burglarized.

On the security camera’s footage, Maloy is shown leaving the building with the stolen items, dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, pants and boots. He then reportedly got into his pickup, distinguishable by body damage along the front end and passenger’s side, and left.

About an hour and a half after the security footage shows Maloy breaking the store window, he was stopped by the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) in the same truck. He reportedly ran off the roadway and crashed the vehicle.

In the MSHP trooper’s patrol vehicle footage, Maloy is seen wearing the same hooded sweatshirt, pants and boots he was allegedly wearing during the Roy’s Store break-in.

The pickup was towed by after the incident.

The truck was photographed while it was parked at a towing lot. The photos clearly show the body damage to the passenger’s side door of the truck, which correlates with those images obtained from the security footage at Roy’s Store, the probable cause statement says.



Photo: Courtesy Roy’s Store via Ozark County Times. Suspect Michael Maloy reportedly crashed the truck he was traveling in less than two hours after a burglary.

The photos also show a cardboard box in the bed of Maloy’s pickup labeled “Roy’s Store.”

Maloy was reportedly interviewed at the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department. He did not confirm or deny involvement in the burglary. The statement says. “Maloy insisted he had no memory of having burglarized the business.”

The Roy’s Store break-in isn’t the only charge Maloy is facing.

In Ozark County, Maloy was charged with possession of a controlled substance on Nov. 12. Court documents in that case indicate Maloy was charged following a report of an assault.

When the officer told Maloy he’d be placed in handcuffs, the defendant asked the officer if he could hand the items in his pocket to his girlfriend. The officer agreed, and Maloy removed a blue case from his pocket.

After the officer had Maloy in handcuffs, he asked the woman if he could see what was inside the blue case. She agreed. Inside, he found 18 Alprazolam and 10 tizanidine pills, both of which are illegal without a prescription. Alprazolam is an anti-anxiety medication, and tizanidine is a muscle relaxant.

In another case filed Nov. 19, Maloy was charged with operating a vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner involving an accident and failure to display plates on a motor vehicle or trailer in connection with the 4 a.m. crash Nov. 9.

A protection order was also issued against Maloy in an adult abuse case on Nov. 19, online records show.

Several other charges are filed in nearby counties.

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