Web posted
Monday, July 14, 2008
Businesses burglarized over weekend
By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer
reporter@arkcity.net
Jim Ramirez used borrowed equipment to stage karaoke night last weekend at the Alumni Grill & Bar, after his business was ransacked early Friday.
"I was lucky I knew someone who had speakers and equipment," Ramirez said today. "We had a good crowd."
The Alumni Grill & Bar was one of three Arkansas City businesses that were broken into Friday, police said. Two service stations also were burglarized, Rakie's Oil Company and Jim's Total Service.
An 18-year-old Haysville man, identified as Matthew Baty, was arrested after a search of his residence turned up numerous items taken from the Alumni Grill & Bar, police said.
The man was in police custody in Wichita after the search warrant was executed with the assistance of the Haysville Police Department, said Arkansas City Police Chief Sean Wallace.
Ramirez said the burglar or burglars also destroyed a safe and took $1,000 in cash.
"They tried to take my big-screen TV but couldn't get it off the hook," Ramirez said. "They went after money and high-dollar items.
A sheriff's deputy who had pulled in to pump gas at Jim's Total Service early Friday called Kevin Mitchell, station owner, after he noticed the service garage door was open, Mitchell said.
"They took a lot of stuff -- cash, a mini-bike, cigarettes," he said. "They tore the register up and ransacked the place."
Mitchell would not disclose how much cash was stolen.
Ed McGowen, owner of Rakie's Oil, was not available for comment.
Police who executed the search warrant in Haysville learned that the Wichita Police Department had located the suspect in Wichita, where he was arrested on charges out of Wichita, Wallace said.
"Officers then went to Wichita where it was discovered that the suspect was driving a stolen vehicle and items from the other two burglaries were discovered inside the car," Wallace said.
During an interview, the suspect admitted to all three business burglaries in Arkansas City, Wallace said.
The suspect is being held in Wichita on charges there, Wallace said. A hold has been placed on him for a state's warrant in relation to the burglaries in Arkansas City.
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