Three people have been charged after being caught Wednesday night in Jefferson City in possession of several items taken in break-ins throughout Mid-Missouri.
Raven Hayes, 23, of Stover, and Vincent Reek, 52, of Grain Valley, are charged with receiving stolen property, possession of burglar's tools and endangering the welfare of a child.
Travis Tomnitz, 36, of Independence, is charged with receiving stolen property, possession of burglar's tools, unlawful use of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child.
Just after 10 p.m. Wednesday, a man who had found his vehicle had been tampered with contacted authorities and provided a description of a suspicious vehicle he had seen, according to Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statements. Officers located a vehicle matching that description around 11 p.m. in the 1200 block of Missouri Boulevard.
Reek, Tomnitz and Hayes, along with Hayes' 17-month-old child, were inside the vehicle, which contained numerous items in plain sight that were believed to have been stolen. These included tools, musical instruments, magazines and jewelry.
Reek was driving the vehicle and allowed officers to search it. They found methamphetamine and a .380 handgun along with bolt cutters.
Reek told authorities he drove the group around Mid-Missouri while Hayes and Tomnitz cut locks on storage sheds. Reek said the items they had with them at the time had been taken from sheds in California. Reek said they then went to Jefferson City, where Tomnitz stole items out of vehicles.
Hayes told authorities Reek and Tomnitz also stole items out of a storage shed in Camdenton. She admitted three pieces of jewelry she was wearing at the time the group was picked up were stolen from that shed.
California police were contacted and officers went to a storage unit facility where they found two units had cut off padlocks. Property from both units were found in the vehicle the group was stopped in and that property, valued at nearly $2,000, was returned to rightful owners.