On Monday, September 14, 2020 at approximately 9:24 am an observant employee at Center Self Storage at 1425 North 16th called the Parsons Police to report an in-progress burglary.

Arriving Officers found to White Males in the process of burglarizing the storage facility. Both subjects were detained by Officers.

The subsequent investigation confirmed that the two suspects had burglarized a storage unit and were in the process of stealing property. The Victim was contacted by police and confirmed that the suspects had her property from the burglary.

Officers arrested Jason Rakestraw, 38 of Pittsburg (KS) and Thomas Houdashelt, 41, also of Pittsburg (KS). The two were taken by police and booked into jail.

The suspect's vehicle was seized, and Detectives obtained a search warrant for the car. The search resulted in the return of the victim's property, including irreplaceable items including family photographs and documents, clothing, and other items. The search also located controlled substances, narcotics paraphernalia and burglary tools all belonging to the two suspects.

The two suspects are being held for Burglary, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Narcotics, Possession of drug paraphernalia, theft, and criminal damage.

Parsons Police Chief Robert Spinks said "here is another example of an alert citizen reporting a crime in-progress. See It! Hear It! Report It! Works and continues to yield positive results when the public teams with the police. I am proud of all the officers involved in this case from the patrol officers to the Detectives who pulled together a great felony case for the prosecutor to now run with. Unfortunately, this is another example of people who are not connected to the Parsons community coming to town thinking they can prey upon our citizens - it didn't work this time and we'll continue to arrest, deter and deflect the criminal element from Parsons."

Acting Commander Kyle Wiford said "this kind of case is hard to follow up on, but the officers involved showed good initiative and charged forward with the investigation getting enough information to apply for a search warrant. I am proud of the patrol officers involved for clearing this case and taking the suspects into custody so quickly."

This continues to be an on-going investigation and citizens are encouraged to "See It, Hear It, Report It." If anyone has any further information on this incident or any other criminal activity, please contact the Parsons Police Department at 421-7060 or call the Tip Line at 421-7057 or email at tips@parsonspd.com.

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