Meghan Sprenkle wants results. No arrests have been made in the $10,000 robbery of her tire and auto shop, she told Goodman City Council members on Tuesday night.
It's been two weeks since the shop was robbed, Sprenkle said. She submitted a written request Tuesday afternoon, asking that the investigation be transferred from the Goodman Police Department to the McDonald County Sheriff's Office.
She and her husband, Gerrod, own Goodman Tire & Auto, which is located in town on Roy Hill Boulevard.
Sprenkle told city council members that the robbery took place on May 18. Her husband discovered the robbery had taken place when he opened the shop for business on May 20. Several items had been taken, which Sprenkle estimated were valued at $6,000. The business checkbook and a car valued at $4,000 also were stolen, she said.
The first check written by a suspect hit the bank on May 21, she said.
Sprenkle said she feels she has provided a great deal of information and several leads. A suspect is writing several checks on the account. Sprenkle said she doesn't understand why an arrest has yet to be made. She also wanted to know why officials haven't fingerprinted door frames and other places that most likely had a lot of fingerprints.
The business owner also asked why it took Goodman Police Chief Curt Drake so long to get to the scene. After her husband called her, Sprenkle arrived at the shop several minutes later. County officers pulled in right after her, but all waited for two hours until Drake arrived, she said.
Goodman Assistant Police Chief Joe David said Drake had been solely handling the investigation but had turned over the case to him Monday night. Drake has had surgery for kidney stones and will be out until June 17, David explained.
David has already spoken to the undersheriff of McDonald County, as well as the prosecuting attorney's investigator. County officials will take the lead on the investigation and he will assist, he said. David said Drake had already put about 18 to 20 hours into the case before he turned it over.
He also said that subpoenas to the U.S. Bank in Pineville are active and include any and all information, checks, video and anything relating to the incident.
"We're going to hit it hard," David said.
Goodman Mayor Greg Richmond said he knew that the robbery had occurred and that an investigation was ongoing but did not know about a lack of action. He said that Drake had been out for medical reasons but that was not an excuse for dropping the ball. He apologized to Sprenkle for the lack of expediency and said he would find out more about the case.
In other business, city council members agreed to continue looking at the foundation for rebuilding a community center. Officials want to use the existing foundation that remains after a tornado destroyed the building two years ago. Additional footing may be needed, however, and officials agreed to get an estimate on how much that might cost.
General News on 06/06/2019