ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A House Springs, Missouri, man is the first in a group to be charged with breaking into an auto detailing business and stealing tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of materials.
According to the St. Louis County Police Department’s probable cause statement, the break-in happened on Feb. 3 at, located in the 11500 block of Concord Village Avenue.
Police said Jeffrey Belk and others broke open the lock box containing the master key and used that to enter the business. The group stole tools, building materials, copper piping, a boiler, PVC pipes, and security camera equipment.
The stolen goods were loaded onto a Home Depot box truck that they’d taken to Auto Detail STL. The value of the stolen items is in excess of $25,000, police said.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Belk with second-degree burglary and stealing – $25,000 or more. Belk was jailed on a $75,000 cash-only bond.