Warrants issued in invasion, damages cases

Iola officials issued arrest warrants for four teenagers in connection with a string of home invasions in Southeast Kansas and criminal damage crimes in Allen County.

The Iola Police Department filed requests with the Allen County Attorney's Office on Monday for arrest warrants to be issued for Eric James, 18; Dominick Robinson, 19; Christopher Lindsey, 18; and Timothy Rogers, 16. No places of residence for the suspects have been provided.

As of press time Monday evening, Robinson has been arrested and booked into the Allen County Jail. Robinson attended Uniontown High School.

"We're looking for the others right now," Iola Police Chief Jim Kilby said.

On Friday, someone called the Allen County Crime Stoppers hot line regarding criminal damage to vehicles in Iola and the home invasions.

"Officers got information off the hot line and then obtained a search warrant, got into a house, got a suspect and he started talking (about the home invasions)," Kilby said.

Using that information, officers started running a telephone dialogue with police departments involved in the home invasion case that led to Iola Police requesting and obtaining a search warrant for a home in Iola. From the warrant, which was served by Iola Police and Garnett Police, additional information and facts were learned that led to arrest warrants being issued for the four teenagers allegedly involved in both crime sprees, Kilby said.

Authorities allege that the four shot up about 57 vehicles from Feb. 25 to 27 in and around Iola, Kilby said. The perpetrators apparently used a high-powered B.B. gun, he said. The series of B.B. gun attacks were at 35 different locations in the Allen County area and damages to the vehicles, mostly to the vehicles' windows, likely will exceed $70,000, according to an article in The Iola Register. The guns, powered by CO2 cartridges, were seized by police during the execution of the search warrant.

Police departments from Garnett, Fort Scott and Pittsburg will be requesting from their county prosecutors warrants for the teens for home invasions in those cities. Fort Scott Police on Monday will be in contact with Iola Police and are currently working on the case.

An elderly Pittsburg couple reported on Feb. 20 that they were awakened by three people who had entered their bedroom while they were in bed and demanded money. One of them had a handgun pointed at them during the incident.

Then, about an hour later, three people broke into a house on Lowman Street in Fort Scott and demanded money from an elderly woman, according to a Fort Scott Police report. One of three had a gun. They managed to get $8 from the woman's purse.

The home invasions became more brazen when invaders entered a home on Feb. 24 in Garnett. They tied up three victims with a cord and ransacked the home, grabbing a small amount of cash. Also, the Allen County Sheriff's Department took a report from a woman in the county who said three people robbed her at gun point, taking off with about $400.

At this time, authorities have not verified any connection between the the guns used in the criminal damage crime spree and the weapons used to terrorize homeowners in the home invasions.