The Jefferson Police Department has filed charges against a suspect in an alleged burglary of a business.

According to Police Captain Heath Enns, an arrest warrant has been requested for 36-year-old Dustin Winchester of Iowa City. Winchester is charged with Class D Felonies for second-degree theft, third-degree burglary and his second or subsequent offense for third-degree burglary of a motor vehicle. 

The charges stem from an investigation that began on February 27th. Police were notified at 7:23am of a burglary incident at Countywide Electric. When officers arrived on scene, they noticed an entry door window was broken. Several items were reported stolen, such as: two laptop computers, cooper wiring, an Echo Dot, among others. The estimated value of the stolen items was $1,835. Additional tools were also taken from a work van, with the estimated value of $2,469. 

A video surveillance recording showed a light-colored sedan  in the company’s parking lot and a suspect rummaging through the  work van. On the same day as the burglary, a Guthrie County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle that Winchester was driving. Winchester gave the deputy a fake name. The deputy saw items that were reported stolen from a vehicle in Guthrie Center. The deputy provided a photo to the Jefferson Police Department of the suspect from video footage of the business in Guthrie Center where that vehicle burglary took place, as well as from the traffic stop. The photo matched the vehicle description and the physical description of Winchester. 

Then on Wednesday, police contacted Wild Rose Casino and Resort and asked their security department to review footage from the evening of the Countywide Electric burglary. The same vehicle that Winchester was driving was in the casino parking lot. Then the Winchester was seen getting into his vehicle and leaving the parking lot just 17 minutes before the burglary. Enns thanks the public for their help with the investigation.

 Once the warrants have been issued and Winchester has been arrested, he will be booked into the Greene County Jail. Raccoon Valley Radio will bring you more information as it becomes official.