Arkansas man suspected of burglarizing 14 Missouri schools including Cass, Bates County
BALLARD, Mo. — An Arkansas man is suspected of burglarizing 14 Missouri schools and two in Iowa. Those burglaries included some not far north of Kansas City and schools in Bates and Cass County.
Authorities believe Curtis Lee Barton, 40, crisscrossed the state targeting rural schools where he could find cash and possibly go undetected, or at least get away before authorities would have time to get there.
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In Ballard, Missouri where signs outside the K-12 school advise drivers to share the road with horse and buggies, the last thing people likely thought they'd have to worry about is someone traveling from out of state to commit crime.
Surveillance video from March 16 shows a masked man with gloves who according to Bates County authorities got inside the school and took cash from several locations. The suspect attempted to disable lights and camera systems via a server room in the school, stealing computer components and causing thousands of dollars in damage.
'We thought it was an inside job or something like that because who else would come here, we are in the middle of nowhere,' parent and Ballard graduate Sarah Bogart said.
The theft and others like it caught the eye of investigators in Wapello County in southern Iowa where a thief stole $4,000 back in February. They discovered a pattern.
'He was targeting rural school areas where maybe there's not many houses around there and go undetected very easily,' Sheriff Don Phillips said.
A map compiled by investigators shows all the school burglaries occurred the past three months, two in Iowa and 14 in Missouri including Sherwood-Cass R-VIII on April 12.
Cass County detectives haven't released details of that break-in. The team of detectives in southern Iowa and northern Missouri developed a suspect. Curtis Lee Barton was out on parole for several similar school burglaries in 2017 and 2018 in central Missouri.
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'You reach a certain level when you are stealing from the schools, like I said fundraisers for the Special Olympics,' Phillips said.
Authorities arrested him at his home in Arkansas last week. On Tuesday, April 29, a joint operation involving Wapello County deputies, Arkansas State Police, and the Lewis County (MO) Sheriff's Office executed the warrants.
The Bates County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday digital evidence tied Barton to the theft at Ballard School and it will work with federal agencies to charge him in federal court.
'We're a small community but we're strong, we're always going to come back and he's going to get what he deserves,' Bogart said.
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Barton was jailed in Little Rock Arkansas on a $100,000 cash only bond. Extradition was granted at his first appearance May 1, according to court records.
Multiple additional burglaries involving small businesses are also being reviewed in connection.
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