By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
A teen connected to two vehicle thefts and the double burglary at an east-Salina convenience store was booked into the Saline County Jail late Tuesday afternoon.
Salina Police Captain Gary Hanus said this morning that the store manager at Kwik Shop, 657 Fairdale Road, told police that he thought he recognized a former employee on surveillance video from the times the store was burglarized early Tuesday morning.
Surveillance video showed a white pickup pull up to the doors at approximately 12:40 a.m. Tuesday. A chain was hooked to the pickup and the store door and the doors were pulled open. Three males were seen on the video entering the store. They left and then returned a few minutes later.
Hanus said that during the two entries to the store, an undetermined amount of cash and more than $100 worth of tobacco were stolen.
Video from the return visit showed that the pickup had "APAC" on it. Officers went to APAC Kansas Shears Division, 1633 Sunflower Road, where they found the gate to the fenced in area had been forced open. An APAC employee arrived and told officers that a white 2007 Dodge Ram 2500, valued at $25,000, was missing.
At approximately 11 a.m. Tuesday, an officer in the 100 block of S. Eighth Street located the pickup in a city parking lot, Hanus said. Additionally, a short time later, the officer located the named suspect in the case, who was identified as Isaiah T. Robertson, 18, of Salina. Hanus said Robertson had in his possession the keys to the pickup.
Hanus said Robertson confirmed his participation in the two burglaries at the Kwik Shop and the removal of the pickup from APAC. Additionally, he confirmed his participation in the theft of a Dodge Ram 2500, valued at $27,000, from APAC on April 30, Hanus said. That pickup was recovered the next morning.
Robertson faces a number of requested charges including multiple counts of felony theft, multiple counts of damage to property, and multiple counts of contributing to the misconduct of a juvenile.
Hanus said the other two people involved in the incidents were juveniles.