An Independence, Mo. man remains in custody at the Platte County Detention Center, suspected of taking part in multiple burglaries of payday loan stores late last year — one in Platte County.
Court documents indicate four separate incidents in the span of three days that occurred in the early morning hours of Nov. 4, 5 and 6. The Gladstone Police Department arrested Philip Bergantine, 29, at about 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 6 following a brief foot chase, suspecting him of burglarizing Tiny’s Quik Cash on N. Oak Trafficway in Clay County.
Philip Bergantine
A second suspect managed to elude capture.
Bergantine’s clothing matched still photographs from another crime scene, and his driver’s license photo looked similar to one of the suspects. A yellow crowbar consistent with the other crimes was also recovered with the alarm panels ripped from the wall at Tiny’s Quik Cash.
Two of the other incidents were also in Clay County with similar characteristics.
At about 9:30 a.m., Kansas City (Mo.) Police Department officers were dispatched to Advance America Loans located at 7114 NW Prairie View Rd. in Platte County on a burglary call. The manager said she arrived at work to find the alarm panel ripped from the wall, prompting her to call police.
The point of entry appeared to be the front door, and the manager noted that a safe containing more than $1,500 in cash was missing. Surveillance footage showed two male subjects entering the front door with a yellow crowbar before ransacking the office and leaving out the back door carrying the safe.
Arrested on Tuesday, Feb. 9, Bergantine declined to answer questions in a police interview but stands charged with one felony count of burglary and one felony count of stealing in Platte County. He’s still facing a felony burglary and misdemeanor charge in Clay County in connection with the same group of crimes.