A rural Carthage man was arrested on Wednesday in connection with more than one burglary, a home-invasion robbery where a woman was tied up and robbed, and the possession of stolen property, including a handgun stolen out of Newton County.
Jonathan Overman, 24, who lives in the Fidelity area, was charged on Thursday with two counts of felony stealing and one misdemeanor count of stealing of property valued at less than $150.
He was being held in the Jasper County Detention Center in Carthage on $10,000 bond as of Friday.
According to a written press release issued by JPD on Thursday, at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 9, a Joplin Police Detective Captain was driving in the area of Seventh Street and Scotland, east of Seventh Street and Highway 249 on unrelated business when he observed a vehicle that matched the description of the suspect vehicle in this case.
The truck was a red Dodge Ram, Extended Cab, no plates, stickers on the back glass and occupied by two white males.
The Detective followed the vehicle east and then north while coordinating Missouri Highway Patrol and Jasper County Sheriff’s Department to assist him.
The vehicle pulled into a private drive south of Interstate 49 and Cedar Road, and then the MSHP and Jasper County Sheriff’s Office assisted in detaining the two white males that were in the truck.
One of the occupants was arrested for possession of stolen property, and the other occupant was released on scene without charges.
The truck was towed to JPD for further processing. Later in the day, another burglary was reported in Joplin, and property from that burglary was contained in the seized truck. Also, stolen property from the home invasion robbery was recovered from the same truck. The arrested occupant was also in possession of handgun that was reported stolen last year in Newton County.
A probable cause statement filed in Jasper County Circuit Court to support the charges against Overman said a handicapped woman was tied up and robbed in the home-invasion robbery.
The statement said the initial search of the vehicle turned up nothing stolen, but at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, officers took the report of a burglary earlier Wednesday on St. Charles Street in Joplin.
Many of the items found in the truck matched items reported stolen in that case, including the keys to a 2007 Chevy pickup that had been taken during the home-invasion robbery.
Police said more charges may be filed in that case.
