The Platte County Sheriff’s Department wants the public to help find a fourth person charged in the theft of a large quantity of guns from a Lake Waukomis, Mo. residence late last month.
According to a news release, authorities want to located 36-year-old Joshua Campbell, who is described as about 5-feet, 10-inches tall and weighing 170 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. The right eye is artificial. Although homeless, he is known to frequent the Independence/Sugar Creek areas in Missouri.
Campbell should be considered armed and dangerous, according to the release, and anyone with information should contact a local law enforcement agency or the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS.
The Platte County Prosecutor’s Office already charged Campbell with a trio of felonies — one each for burglary, stealing a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm. He has prior felony convictions for unlawfully attempting to obtain a controlled substance.
According to court documents, Campbell went into a residence at 775 NW South Shore Dr. with David Grant and Andrea Roberts, a couple who live next door. They took about 70 firearms worth approximately $20,000 along with other personal items and loaded them into the truck of Westley Watts, the fourth person known to be allegedly involved in the crime.
As of early last week, about 20 of the guns have been recovered, according to a sheriff’s department spokesperson. Watts, Roberts and Grant remain in custody at the Platte County Detention Center.
Surveillance video and an overheard cell phone conversation helped trace the crime back to the quartet. According to a probable cause statement, a Kansas City (Mo.) Police Department officer overheard a white male later identified as Grant talking on his cell phone two days later while both were at a QuikTrip on Front Street off of Interstate 435. Grant made incriminating statements, and the officer took down his license plate info to help track the suspects.
The surveillance video, taken from a neighbor’s camera, shows Campbell and Grant unloading large items from the burglarized residence. Eventually, Watts drives away in his truck along with Campbell inside.
In a subsequent interview, Watts said that he and Campbell unloaded the items at Watts’ residence in Blue Springs, Mo. He claimed that was when he learned the items stolen were a large amount of guns, while admitting that Campbell steals and sells drugs for money.
While serving a search warrant at Watts’ residence, authorities interviewed another occupant of the home, who said Campbell brought the stolen items recovered to the house. She asked him to get rid of them, and she gave information that indicated three to four of the stolen weapons might have been sold to unknown males on March 25.
According to court documents, Campbell is believed to have been the individual to take possession of the majority of the stolen guns, which he planned to sell.