MFA Oil and Gainesville Elementary break-ins reported overnight Sept. 27
Times photo / Norene Prososki MFA Oil delivery driver Daniel Chambers boards up a window Thursday morning that was broken out during an apparent burglary during the night. A break-in and theft were also reported Thursday morning at Gainesville Elementary School.
The Ozark County Sheriff’s Department is investigating two break-ins that apparently occurred overnight Wednesday, Sept. 27. At 6:14 a.m. Thursday a caller reported to the sheriff’s office that the front glass had been broken out of the MFA Oil office on Third Street just east of the Gainesville square, and a couple of hours later, a burglary was reported at the Gainesville Elementary School.
MFA Oil office manager Cheri Voss said less than $30 was taken from the office; the culprit “mostly made a mess,” she said, adding that it was the third break-in in two years at the office, which was formerly Ozark County Gas.
A secretary arrived at Gainesville Elementary School a short time later Thursday morning to find papers scattered over the floor that the night before had been stacked on shelves. “She also noticed a closet door was open that wasn’t open the night before,” said elementary principal Jason Morris. “We started investigating and found that the latch was broken on an office window. That’s how they got in.”
The culprit took about $100 in cash from the school’s change box and also stole six or seven books of postage stamps, Morris said.
Film from the school’s surveillance cameras was turned over to the sheriff’s department when the school filed its report. It’s hoped that the burglar can be identified from the video recordings, Morris said.
Meanwhile, the school’s staff is thankful nothing was destroyed and the glass in the window wasn’t broken. “It’s one of those things that could have been a lot worse,” Morris said.