Deputies arrest couple accused of Tecumseh burglary, recover stolen truck


Lilly

Greer

Ozark County Cpl. Curtis Dobbs, right, and Chief Deputy Winston Collins arrested Andrea J. Greer and Adam D. Lilly, seated, on Oct. 3 after a Tecumseh-area resident found the burglary suspects asleep on his property near Bryant Creek. Photo submitted

Case update: Lilly and Greer were arraigned before Associate Judge Raymond Gross Oct. 9. Greer was released on supervised bond, and Lilly is scheduled to be released on supervised bond upon the installation of a GPS monitor. 

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Adam D. Lilly, 30, of Winona, and Andrea J. Greer, 18, of West Plains, are being held in the Ozark County Jail without bond in connection with the alleged burglary last week of the Tecumseh-area home of D.E. and Tiffany Pleasant. Lilly is charged with first-degree burglary, stealing a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the incident. Greer is charged with burglary and stealing a firearm. 

Lilly and Greer were arraigned Oct. 4 before Associate Judge Raymond Gross. They are scheduled to return to court today, Oct. 9.

According to the probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Chief Deputy Winston Collins, the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department received a call at 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, reporting a burglary that had resulted in a pursuit of the assailants by the homeowner. 

Collins responded to D.E. and Tiffany Pleasant’s Tecumseh-area home, and the homeowners told the officer the suspects had fled the area in a white Dodge truck on a private road leading to a sand and gravel quarry. The homeowners said the road dead ends in that direction, and the truck and its occupants had not been seen leaving the property. 

Collins located and followed a vehicle path to a disabled 2017 Dodge Ram truck, which was reportedly located on a sand dune near Bryant Creek at the end of the county road. When Collins ran the VIN number on the truck, it yielded a stolen vehicle response from Howell County.

The sheriff’s department conducted an extensive search of the area, but the suspects were not found that evening, according to the report. 

Collins spoke with D.E. Pleasant, who reportedly told the officer that when he arrived at his house that evening, a four-door Dodge 3/4-ton truck was parked sideways in the drive. D.E. entered the house and found a woman in his bedroom with a pistol. 

D.E. said he asked the woman if he could help her, and she didn’t respond. He said she laid the pistol down and asked, “Are you going to hurt me?”

D.E. reassured her he wasn’t going to hurt her, the statement says, and asked, “Why are you in my house?”

She reportedly replied, “Because I’m a bad person.”

D.E. told the officer he then saw a man walking toward the truck, and the woman walked out of the house and got in the truck, and the pair sped away. D.E. pursued them and notified the sheriff’s office. 

At 6:53 a.m. the next morning, Oct. 3, the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a man on the same county road who said he found a man and woman on his property. Collins responded to the area and found the pair asleep along a vehicle path with a rifle lying beside them. Collins removed the firearm while they were asleep. Then he woke them, placed the man in handcuffs and instructed the woman to sit on her hands with her legs crossed until further assistance from another deputy arrived. 

Cpl. Curtis Dobbs and Deputy Jeffrey Lane arrived a short time later, and both suspects were placed in restraints.

After reading Lilly his Miranda rights, Lilly agreed to speak with Collins. He reportedly acknowledged the events from the previous night and described in detail the stolen vehicle and how they walked from the home they had burglarized to their current location. Lilly told the officer the rifle had been taken from the Pleasants’ home. 

Lilly and Greer were transported to the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department. Lilly reportedly continued to speak with Collins while being transported to the jail. He said he was the driver of the vehicle when they left the burglarized residence, but Collins wrote in his report that Lilly minimized his involvement and knowledge of the stolen vehicle and burglarized residence. 

D.E. Pleasant confirmed that the rifle was his and had been taken from the home during the burglary. Other miscellaneous items were also seized from the ground where Greer and Lilly were found, including unopened mail belonging to the Pleasants.

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423