Case cracked as pecan thieves come out of shell too soon
Two men are in custody and a third suspect is being sought after an early morning break-in at the Indianola Pecan House warehouse on Second Street.
Police received a call Monday morning after a security alarm alert at the facility.
Police Lieutenant Johnny Bland said Zymedrick Buckner, 26, of 409 Coates Street and Robert Jamar Batteast, 22, of 510 Cox Street were arrested a few hours later and charged with burglary of a commercial building. The two men made their initial appearance in municipal court before Judge Kuykendall Murry on Tuesday and bond was set at $15,000 each.
According to Bland, Buckner and Batteast evidently cut a hole in the rear wire fence surrounding the building and attempted to break into the facility by prying open a back door but set off an alarm and got “spooked.”
Police checked and found the gate locked and secure but the men returned a short while later and disabled the power to the building and were caught on video in the process.
Bland said they apparently dragged several large bags of pecans out of the facility and to an awaiting car because they left a trail of nuts behind them.
When the Pecan House opened for regular business, the duo returned and attempted to sell some of the pilfered pecans back to the company but were recognized by a Pecan House employee.
Bland said investigators had just left the warehouse viewing the footage with warehouse officials and were bringing a copy back to the department for further analysis when they got the call that Buckner and Batteast were at the facility trying to cash in.
He said the officers quickly returned to the site and were able to take them into custody.
Bland said they hope to have the unidentified third suspect in custody later this week. For now, Buckner and Batteast are still being held in the Sunflower County jail.
