During the early morning hours of Sunday, December 29th, a suspect decided he wanted to break into the Texarkana Animal Shelter on Harrison Street. Following the initial investigation, Officer Bryan with TAPD reviewed the shelter’s surveillance footage and believed he recognized the subject as Steven Owens, a prior community service employee of the shelter. Officer Bryan responded to Owens’ residence, where he noticed several things on the front porch that were believed to have been taken from the shelter. The interim Animal Control Director was called to the scene, and identified the items on the porch as being stolen from the shelter.
A search warrant for the residence was obtained, and more stolen items were recovered from inside the residence, further linking Owens to the crime. Steven Owens, was not located at the scene.
The Police Department later received an anonymous call with an address of where Owens could be found. Officers responded to that address and were able to take Owens into custody for Commercial Burglary.
Further investigation also revealed that Owens had also committed the October 4, 2019 burglary of the shelter as well. Steven Owens is currently awaiting his first appearance at the Miller County Jail for two counts of Commercial Burglary.
