Tow truck driver leads cops to burglary suspect

Information from a tow-truck driver helped authorities arrest a suspected burglar and recover guns and electronics stolen from at least two homes in Butler County.

"The homeowners returned home from vacation and found their house had been broken into," said Butler County sheriff's deputy Travis Huddleston. " ... Their truck had been stolen [along with] numerous electronics and firearms."

The burglary was discovered Saturday at a home on County Road 309, off Highway 53, Huddleston said.

The next day, he said, the homeowners were talking about the burglary with a neighbor, who realized he had towed the car involved in the burglary.

"The suspects, when leaving the scene, had a flat on their vehicle," Huddleston said. So they called for a tow truck.

"... While the tow company was responding, out of desperation, they went back and stole the victims' vehicle," Huddleston said.

The tow truck arrived just after midnight July 2, and "when he towed the car to Alan's Muffler, [the suspects] followed" in the allegedly stolen 1999 Chevrolet S-10 pickup, Huddleston said.

At the muffler shop, the suspects "off loaded" the allegedly stolen property into the truck, Huddleston said.

That's when the neighbor saw the items and recognized some of them, Huddleston said.

The tow driver, the deputy said, provided authorities with the tow sheet, which included a name -- Brett Robert McKinney -- and an address. McKinney subsequently was arrested on suspicion of second-degree burglary and was booked at the Butler County jail.

Police used a warrant to search the house and found three rifles, three pistols, numerous tools, a TV, about nine laptop computers, five wireless printers, gaming systems and accessories and a large quantity of gold and antique jewelry. Among the jewelry, he said, was a 1955 class ring with initials on it.

Huddleston said authorities are continuing their search for two other people -- one man and one woman -- in connection with the County Road 309 burglary.