Three people held in burglaries of convenience store

Daily American Republic

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A teen who applied for a job while casing a local convenience store has been charged with burglarizing it later that night, authorities said.

"Once we got the application, it got us on a real good start," said Lt. Jerry Armes of the Butler County Sheriff's Department. By the time the investigation was over, three people had been arrested in connection to two burglaries at the Green Forest Grocery, Armes said.

Ronald Keith Garrett Jr., 17, of Williamsville, Mo., Matthew Steven Morelan, 17, of Poplar Bluff and Jason William Poston, 22, of Williamsville were arrested Thursday.

In the early morning hours July 24, an alarm at Green Forest Grocery sounded, Armes said. Deputies found that someone had gotten into the store through the air-conditioning vent.

A clerk who worked the night before told authorities about some men who had been in the store three times the night before, Armes said. One, Garrett, had filled out a job application. Investigators spent several days trying to track down Garrett.

At 1:41 a.m. Tuesday, the store was broken into a second time, again through the air-conditioning vent. The burglars stole more than $1,000 in liquor and cigarettes, Armes said.

The case broke and came together quickly Thursday, after a phone call from Wayne County.

"Wayne County Sheriff Larry Plunkett called me in reference to a young man from Williamsville who had stolen his father's car. The father also suspected the young man of breaking into a store," Armes said. "As he was talking, I had the job application in front of me and asked if his name was Garrett. It was."

Armes said Garrett allegedly confessed to the July 24 burglary and implicated Morelan, a co-worker of Garrett. Morelan allegedly confessed and implicated Poston as being involved in the second burglary.

As Poston's name came up in the interviews, a deputy had located Garrett's father's stolen vehicle on South 11th Street, Armes said. A man standing nearby turned out to be Poston.