Poplar Bluff burglary suspect faces preliminary hearing today

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man charged with burglarizing a home earlier this month while the homeowner was sleeping is set to appear in court today for a preliminary hearing.

Jacob Sanoe Kalawaia, 27, is set to appear at 1 p.m. today on charges of felony first-degree burglary and felony first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.

According to the probable-cause statement, on April 14 homeowner Deonna Vincent reported she had fallen asleep on the living room couch and had awakened at about 5:30 a.m. to find all the bedroom doors, which usually stay closed, open.

Vincent said her tip money, her daughter's laptop and Nintendo DS, and many power tools were missing, according to the statement.

Vincent's daughter, Tiffany Elliot, was spending the night at the residence of her boyfriend, who is Kalawaia's brother. Elliot said she awoke to find her vehicle and keys missing, according to the statement.

When Kalawaia and a juvenile friend returned with the vehicle, they told Elliot's boyfriend they had stolen items from Vincent's home, according to the statement. Elliot's boyfriend recovered the items and returned them to Vincent.

After a search by Butler County sheriff's deputies, Kalawaia and the juvenile were found and arrested.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, Mo.