HSV man charged in break-ins
A Hot Springs Village man was arrested Thursday on multiple felony charges stemming from allegations he broke into 13 storage units earlier this month and pawned a kayak stolen from another storage unit last month.
Jeffery Scott Holthusen Jr., 38, who lists a Valladolid Way address, was taken into custody around 2 p.m. and charged with 14 counts of breaking or entering and one count of theft by receiving, each punishable by up to six years in prison.
He remained in custody Friday in lieu of bonds totaling $37,500 and is set to appear Jan. 30 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit on the break-ins, on Jan. 2, the owner of Airport Mini-Storage, located at 913 Airport Road, filed a report alleging an unknown suspect had cut the lock to the main gate, entered the property, broke the locks off 13 separate storage units and removed property from them.
Video was obtained from the property that showed a gray Ford Ranger extended cab pickup entering the property around midnight on Jan. 1 and remain well into the morning hours of Jan. 2. The license plate could be seen and returned to a gray 1995 Ford Ranger registered to Holthusen.
The affidavit notes the pickup had other identifying features including LED lights on the grill, an off-color front fender and custom wheels and rims. In the video, a tall white male and shorter white female are seen exiting the pickup, cutting the locks to various units and removing items.
After two to three hours, the pickup and occupants were seen leaving, closing the main gate behind them. The business owner noted Holthusen was not a listed tenant and would not have had any business on the property.
The suspect vehicle was stopped by a Hot Springs police patrol unit on Jan. 3 shortly before 10:30 p.m. when it was seen preparing to enter the property at Airport Mini-Storage. The driver apparently saw the patrol unit in the driveway and sped up and continued inbound on Airport Road.
After the traffic stop, the driver was identified as Holthusen who was with a smaller white female, 36. It was later noted Holthusen matched the description of the white male seen in the video and was wearing a camouflage hat like the suspect. Warrants were later issued for his arrest.
According to the affidavit on the theft charge, on Dec. 16, 2016, a local man filed a report with Garland County sheriff’s investigators alleging a break-in to his storage unit at 3867 Highway 7 north and the theft of a green and black Native Warcraft FX12 kayak, valued at $1,600.
GCSD Investigator Brandon Huckaba searched LeadsOnline and located a pawn transaction made on Dec. 26 at 270 Pawn Shop involving a green and black kayak matching the description of the stolen one.
On Jan. 5, Huckaba made contact with the owner of the pawnshop who provided him with a copy of the pawn ticket that indicated Holthusen had pawned the kayak. The owner also provided a copy of Holthusen’s driver’s license and security video of the suspect which Huckaba positively identified as Holthusen.
On Jan. 18, the victim was shown the kayak at the pawnshop and confirmed it was the one that had been stolen and it was confirmed the serial number matched. A warrant was later issued for Holthusen.