Suspect held in storage unit break-ins

A second suspect allegedly involved in breaking into a storage unit and stealing collectibles last month was arrested Wednesday morning on felony warrants.

Jeffery Scott Holthusen, 38, who lists a Reddina Lane address in Hot Springs Village, was taken into custody shortly after 11 a.m. and charged with theft of property, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and breaking or entering, punishable by up to six years.

His alleged accomplice, Hannah Elizabeth Bailey, 36, also of Hot Springs Village, was arrested Feb. 6 on the same charges and was later released on $7,500 bond. Holthusen remained in custody Thursday in lieu of bonds totaling $17,500 and is set to appear March 13 in Garland County District Court.

According to the affidavit, on Feb. 1, Garland County sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Huckaba responded to a break-in to storage units behind Caldwell Hardware, 4909 Park Ave., and spoke with the business owner, who said the units had been broken into on Jan. 24. The owner said he had noticed the locks cut off several units on Jan. 21, and provided Huckaba with video and photos from his security camera and the names of customers who had their storage units broken into, including one who had identified some of the stolen property seen in the security video as belonging to him.

The video showed a gray Ford Ranger pulling into the store’s driveway, which leads to the storage units, at about 4:33 p.m. Jan. 24. A white Jeep was shown leaving the property at that time. The Ford Ranger was seen to only have a red gas can in its bed as it passed under the security camera on the way in. About seven minutes later, the

video showed the Ford Ranger leaving the business with four gray totes in its bed.

The driver of the Jeep, 25, an employee of Caldwell Hardware, told Huckaba he had seen a Ford Ranger pull into the driveway as he tried to leave the business. He said that he recognized the driver of the Ford Ranger as Holthusen, having seen him in the media for a previous arrest for break-ins and from seeing him inside the business on other occasions. The employee also stated that he saw a female passenger with the driver.

Huckaba made contact with the victim whose property was stolen who said he had been to his storage unit on Jan. 23. He stated that it was locked with all of his property inside when he had left it. Upon seeing the security video, the victim identified the gray totes in the bed of the Ford Ranger as his property and noted they contained antique coins from the 1800s and

1900s, which he valued at about

$50,000.

Upon review of the security video, Huckaba was able to identify the driver as Holthusen and the passenger as Bailey.