A night of surveillance in the south part of the county by Moniteau County sheriff's deputies led to burglary charges against a Russellville man.
Kevin Wilson Stinson, 35, Russellville, has been charged with two counts of Class C Felony Burglary in the second degree and a count of Class D Felony Possession of Burglary Tools.
According to court documents, initiated by a report of theft of fuel and other items by a property owner, the department arranged for deputies to conduct three nights of surveillance at the location.
The surveillance began on Tuesday, April 23. At 2:10 a.m. Wednesday, an ATV pulling a trailer drew the attention of hidden deputies.
The driver dismounted the ATV. When he got back on the ATV about an hour later, the deputies showed themselves and ordered him off the machine. He was handcuffed, his flashlight, baseball cap and camouflage facemask removed and he was identified as Stinson.
According to the deputies, the defendant was "very startled and kept screaming." He asked them to take the cuffs off as he was only "coon hunting."
The deputies read him his Miranda rights and searched him as he is alleged to have claimed he had done "nothing wrong," and was just following the dogs and had no gun. Later, after being told it wasn't raccoon season, Stinson is alleged to have told the deputies he was stealing electric motors so he could feed his kids.
The deputies allegedly found a cutoff padlock, electric motors and a gas generator piled up as well as burglary-type tools. The defendant did not have permission to be on the property or in the buildings.
If convicted, the defendant could face up to seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine on the class C felony charges and up to four years and $5,000 fine on the class D felony charge. Bond has been set at $50,000 cash only.