Man arrested for Cape Girardeau business burglaries

A 30-year-old Cape Girardeau man was in police custody Thursday after authorities said he broke into two local businesses last month and stole about $4,000 from games, registers and safes.

Scott W. Pierce faces charges of second-degree burglary and stealing in connection with the November burglaries of Whiskey River, 1444 Independence St., and Rhymer's on the Plaza, 10 S. Plaza Way. Pierce also is being looked at as a suspect in other area burglaries, including those that have targeted businesses and residences in recent weeks.

Cape Girardeau Police Department spokesman Darin Hickey said police don't know if Pierce could be responsible for seven other business burglaries since around Nov. 1, but they are certainly investigating the possibility.

"Part of our investigation is to look at the rest of those burglaries and see if he had any involvement," Hickey said. "So we are looking into it. Like I say, we are continuously investigating."

Sgt. Eric Friedrich of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department said Pierce also is being investigated about a possible link to several residential burglaries in the county.

"These are residential houses with lots of jewelry," Friedrich said.

Pierce was only a suspect in the business burglaries until an incident the night before his arrest brought him to the attention of law enforcement.

"It's actually what got the ball rolling," Friedrich said. "He was seen at a house in the county and one thing led to another."

Paperwork, once filed, that would charge Pierce in the county burglaries was in the prosecutor's office Thursday, Friedrich said. Those charges could happen as soon as today.

Online court filings did not show a lawyer for Pierce or a pending court date.

Evidence against Pierce, according to charging documents filed Thursday, allegedly includes a confession to police and surveillance video during the commission of the crime. Pierce admitted Wednesday night that he broke into Whiskey River and Rhymer's on the Plaza, according to a probable-cause statement prepared by Sgt. Don Perry. Pierce told police, the statement says, that he forced out a board in the window at Whiskey River before taking about $500 from the register and from a backroom.

Perry said Pierce admitted that he broke glass on a side door and remembered taking about $180 from a cash register at nearby Rhymer's.

That is in contrast to what those reporting the burglaries told police. On Nov. 8, officers responded to Whiskey River, where the caller told police that five "gaming machines" had been broken into and about $1,000 taken. Another $1,000 was missing from a small safe, the reporting party said, along with $1,700 from a register and $150 from an employee's desk.

At Rhymer's, the owner reported about $350 in cash from a cash register and cabinets near the bar was missing. Video surveillance shows the suspect was a man with an unshaven face wearing gloves and a jacket with a hood over his head.

Before his arrest, Pierce had pleaded guilty in a Cape Girardeau County Courtroom nine times since 2000. The most serious offenses include robbery and burglary charges in 2001. Pierce's most recent guilty plea came in September for a misdemeanor theft charge.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

10 S. Plaza Way, Cape Girardeau, MO

1444 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO