The Sedalia Police Latent Crimes Division announced a juvenile was taken into custody after a search warrant was served Friday, in the 2500 block of South Woodlawn Drive. During the search, items were discovered stolen from the salons as well as other contraband.
An investigation into a string of salon burglaries, thefts from vehicles, and even a vehicle theft began in April and continued until June 16.
Salon Bash on West Main Street had a window bashed in and money stolen in April. But that wasn’t the end of their burglary attempts.
“They've came back twice since the original break-in in April,” Meredith Kemp, a stylist at Salon Bash said. “Luckily my boss has our cameras connected to her Alexa at home, so we got a notification Wednesday night that they were kind of peeping in, so she immediately called the Sedalia Police Department. They showed up within seven minutes, thankfully.”
The burglars fled before the officer's arrival but left their faces on newly installed security cameras and a piece of crucial evidence in the backyard of the salon.
“The perpetrators had left some personal items in our backyard, and we had found those and turned them into the police, and they could kind of trace back who those items belong to,” Kemp said. “We appreciate how connected they have been and how immediate their response was Wednesday night at one in the morning.”
Detective Ty Barrett said there were at least 14 salon robberies.
“From what I’ve learned of it they specifically targeted them,” Barrett said. “Because, they said, that was the kind of business that if they learned the layout easy enough, they could hit them repeatedly, and they all have similar buildings.”
Barrett said the similarity of the business allowed the thieves to keep hitting them in a seemingly random pattern. Barrett kept noticing the same similarities and built a file by working leads.
Now, with one juvenile in custody and more arrests expected, Barrett is glad the string of salon break-ins has been solved.
“It has been a wave of relief,” Barrett said. “This has been basically my entire focus the last few months.”
Salon owners are glad the juvenile crime-spree has been busted, and the repeated break-ins may stop.
“I think we can all just sleep peacefully knowing that the one person, the main person involved, is in custody,” Kemp added. “It's just a feeling of relief to know that you know the police are doing their job and now we don’t have to really worry about those same kids coming back.”
Police thanked the Pettis County Juvenile Office for their assistance.
