Burglary charges have been filed against four defendants as a result of an investigation centering largely in the Clarksburg area.
Charges have been filed against Caleb Allan Seip, 17, Clarksburg; Edward Maxwell Stanfield, 17, Tipton; Robert L. Smart, 20, California; and Nathan M. Weed, 25, California.
According to Court documents, Seip has been charged with two Class C Felony counts. Count I, Second Degree Burglary, and Count II, Stealing. Both are related to a Clarksburg burglary in which Seip allegedly participated in stealing a laptop valued at more than $500.
Two Class C Felony charges have been filed against Stanfield. The first charge is for two counts, Second Degree Burglary and Receiving Stolen property for the above Clarksburg burglary and laptop theft involving Seip. The second charge is for Class C Felony Second Degree Burglary, four counts, for the alleged entry into and theft from four separate inhabitable structures in Clarksburg.
Smart has been charged with Class C Felony Second Degree Burglary, four counts, for allegedly working with Stanfield in the same four Clarksburg burglaries.
One burglary netted the thieves a 12-gauge single shot shotgun, a bb gun and jewelry valued at about $860. A second burglary netted the thieves a case of Pepsi, about $20 in coins and a $5 bill. Items taken in a third burglary included a dishwasher, a six-foot ladder and a number of tools - total value of about $650, a $150 birdbath and about $80 damage done to a door and screen. A fourth burglary netted the burglars an air compressor valued at more than $500, and a number of portable tools.
Most of the allegedly stolen items were left at an abandoned house from which they were later recovered.
Weed was charged with Class C Felony Second Degree Burglary in connection with yet another alleged entry and theft in Clarksburg. He is alleged to have worked with Seip, Stanfield and a juvenile in this burglary in which a large plastic tub of Beanie Babies and Pez dispensers were taken.
Each defendant could face up to seven years in prison and $5,000 fine for each count with which they are charged.
Bond has been set at $25,000 for Seip and Stanfield, and reduced to $10,000 for Weed. No bond has been set for Smart, who at press time was in custody in Cole County charged with Class D Felony resisting arrest and Unlawful Use of Drug Paraphernalia.
He was arrested in eastern Moniteau County after an alleged chase in Cole County along with Michael T. Kinslow, 22, Laredo. Kinslow faces three felony charges in Cole County.