A Dearborn, Mo. man has been charged with two felonies after allegedly causing extensive damage to a Platte City business.
On Thursday, Sept. 7, Platte City Police Department officers noticed the lights were on inside the Express Tow and Auto Body Shop located on First Street in Platte City. Officers found the window of the north pedestrian door had been broken and the door was unlocked.
Tyler Lindstrom
Officers entered the business and found it had been ransacked, and there were numerous items that had been destroyed.
The owner responded to the business and confirmed computers, printer, miscellaneous office equipment, furniture, a refrigerator and two vehicles were damaged or destroyed. Also the east pedestrian door was forced open and several windows in the building were broken.
The owner gave an estimate of the damages as being between $35,000 to $40,000.
An employee was able to access the video security system and found video of the suspect breaking into and entering the business. The video showed the offense occurred at 11:44 p.m. on Sept. 6. One of the cameras on the exterior of the building captured the suspect walking east on the north side of the business.
At the time, the suspect’s hands were empty.
A few seconds later the suspect walked back to the west toward the north pedestrian door and he can be seen carrying a sledgehammer, according to court documents. It is believed the suspect obtained the hammer from a trailer being stored on the east side of the building.
The camera attached to the ceiling rafters just inside the north pedestrian door captured images of what appeared to be the north door being struck with a heavy object but the door did not open. In the next frames of the video, the window of the north door starts to break as it breaks it becomes apparent the window is being struck with a large sledge hammer.
Once a large enough hole was made in the window glass of the door, the suspect threw the hammer through the opening then reached through the broken window with his left hand and unlocked the door. The suspect can be seen wearing work gloves.
As the suspect entered the building, his face is clearly visible in several frames. The video also showed the suspect leaving the business several minutes later.
Officers were able to identify the suspect as Tyler Lindstrom, 26, who has had numerous encounters with law enforcement in the past. A family member and former employer of Lindstrom’s was contacted and also positively identified him in the surveillance video.
Lindstrom has been charged with burglary and property damage. He remains in custody at the Platte County Detention Center in lieu of a $10,000 cash-only bond.