FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Fayetteville Police have been looking for a serial suspected serial burglar for several months and most recently stealing equipment from a strip of businesses along College Ave.
One of the businesses robbed is Boatman Tattoos which is preparing to open its doors including in the process of moving in furniture and designing the interior. When owner Jason Boatman to his shop on Tuesday, Feb. 22, he found a hole in the wall, his building trashed, and equipment stolen.
“You feel violated in the beginning and you’re just kind of…you don’t really know what to think,” said Jason Boatman, future owner of Boatman Tattoos. He says he was in disbelief and immediately called the police.
“They’re coming in to open their business and they see a hole in the wall and stuff is rifled through,” said Sgt. Tony Murphy with the Fayetteville Police Department.“It’s obvious that someone had been in there.”
According to a preliminary police report by Fayetteville Police, Boatman reported $2,250 worth of stolen equipment.
Boatman says, he was upset at first but realized things can be replaced.
“In the end, you know, that it’s just things and hopefully they can be replaced. And the biggest thing is that no one got hurt," says Boatman.
After stealing from Boatman’s business, police say the suspect used the hole created in the wall to make his way into a photography shop and an Allstate insurance office next door. Those owners reported stolen equipment including an estimated $7,800 worth of camera equipment and a gold ring worth about $400.
Police say this is the suspect's most recent burglary and that they have been looking for him for months.
“Our criminal investigative unit has been investigating numerous commercial burglaries across the Northwest Arkansas area.”
Police say the suspect is accused of 32 commercial burglaries. Fayetteville police finally caught the suspect after Washington County deputies tried to make a traffic stop in Springdale.
Police say he drove away and arrested him at his home. Police also found some of the stolen equipment in the suspect's bedroom which are being returned to the businesses.
“For me to receive anything back at all was just amazing,” Boatman said.
According to the police report, the suspect is facing multiple commercial burglary charges as well as theft and criminal mischief.
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