ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis Circuit Court judge signed an arrest warrant for a southwest Missouri man accused of stealing grease from a popular Soulard restaurant.

According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s probable cause statement, John D. McGurk’s Irish Pub first contacted police on May 1 to report grease thefts.

Restaurant management had surveillance video from April 14, showing a man taking approximately $944 worth of grease from the restaurant’s grease containers. A second theft occurred on May 1, with an estimated $783 worth of grease stolen.

Following the initial police report, McGurk’s management reported a third grease theft on May 7, with an estimated $380 of grease taken.

Thanks to informants, police said investigators were eventually able to identify the grease thief as Ronald D. Braden, 39. The informants told police that Braden lived in Republic, Missouri.

On May 14, an officer with the Republic Police Department pulled Braden over for a traffic stop, which allowed authorities in St. Louis to identify him from McGurk’s security video.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Braden with two counts of stealing – $750 or more and one count of stealing.