A Boone County man has been arrested following reports of stolen property from a storage unit. Forty-six-year-old Guillermo Martinez is facing charges of breaking or entering, theft of property and accomplices.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office received a report on June 27 from a woman stating some property had been stolen from her storage unit. She reported multiple bottles of Freon, Freon scales, collection bottles, and a Freon recovery pump being stolen from her unit. The victim said her storage unit was locked and could be unlocked using the master key. She explained that her brother had lost or misplaced his set of master keys and believed someone else had possession of them.
Earlier in the day, another report was received stating property belonging to another unit had also been stolen. The victim stated the property belonged to one of the victim’s employees. Items from this unit included multiple totes of Lilo and Stich memorabilia, bags of seven dust, six new window air conditioner units, two wooden dressers, a concrete donkey yard ornament, a black office chair, a toddler bed, eight multi-colored collapsible lawn chairs in bags, six boxes of synthetic elk urine, a Hyper Tough gas weed eater and numerous other items.
Investigators reviewed video footage from April 6 and identified a man and a woman carrying Freon bottles and other items past a camera near the two units in question. The woman was observed as having pink hair highlights, and a light green minivan with its lights turned off was later seen driving by. The driver was observed to be wearing the same clothes as the man previously seen carrying the items. The victim was able to get the license plate off the vehicle when it arrived back on the property the next night.
Deputies contacted the woman to whom the vehicle was registered, but she stated she had traded the van to someone else and had yet to remove her license plate. Investigators found that the person the van was traded to had been arrested, and Davey’s Towing had towed the van. According to the towing company, no one had paid the tow bill or impound fee, so Davey’s awarded the van. A search of the van revealed what appeared to be items from the storage unit and a red lock, which the master key fit in.
The woman on camera was discovered not to be the owner of the van but possibly someone she had lent the van to. When speaking to the van owner’s husband, he stated she had a friend with pink hair and directed the investigator to an address in Harrison. Investigators searched the residence, where they found three of the stolen items. During an interview with the suspect, she confirmed she, the van owner, and Martinez removed items from the storage unit on April 6. However, she believed the property belonged to Martinez. She told investigators most of the property was in Martinez’s possession, either at his residence or in one of the many storage units he alleged to have.
On July 3, a search of Martinez’s residence recovered stolen property from the two storage units. During an interview, Martinez said he was asked to help remove items from a storage unit he believed belonged to one of the women. When asked if he thought it was suspicious that the request came at night, Martinez said he did not, as he prefers to do things at night because of the cooler temperatures.
Martinez was arrested and booked into the Boone County Detention Center. He is facing three felony counts of accomplices, two felony counts of breaking or entering, and a felony count of theft of property. His bond is set at $5,000.
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