BETHALTO, Ill. — Last week, we reported on a string of carwash thefts in Missouri and southern Illinois.
According to www.fox2now.com, police have apprehended the suspected carwash thief who was using a Budget rental truck in his crimes.
Authorities spotted the truck on April 21st and pulled it over.
Troy Webber, 43, was in the truck, and he allegedly stole from pay stations at the Bethalto Car Wash on April 19th.
“He’s been hitting carwashes now for a handful of months in the general St. Louis area,” said Brett Anderson, owner of Bethalto Car Wash. “He’s been using the same truck apparently. [The arrest] is a big relief for the carwash community as a whole.”
The van was listed as stolen; it was registered in Oklahoma and rented in September but never returned.
“We will be working with agencies as far west as Hannibal in determining if any of the evidence seized from that van is connected to any other bi-state carwash-type burglaries or thefts,” said Bethalto Police Chief Mike Dixon. “We’re talking hundreds of dollars in some of these thefts and over $1,000 in some of the thefts. For now, Mr. Webber’s in custody, and hopefully we won’t have any more carwash burglaries in the region for a while.”
In addition to evidence linking the burglaries to Webber, the truck also held a handgun with the serial number removed.
Webber was jailed on weapons and theft charges.
He was also wanted for an attempted theft at another Bethalto carwash in February and for violating his probation on a conviction for making a terroristic threat in 2017 in Washington County, Missouri.
Read the original article here.
