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Salvation Army's Stolen Instruments Recovered

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Sep 2, 2010 at 4:30 PM MST

Story Updated: Sep 2, 2010 at 9:49 PM MST

Last week we told you about a thief who stole $10,000 dollars worth of musical equipment from the Salvation Army in Helena - and a local pawn shop owner was able to lead authorities to a suspect.

According to court documents, 23- year-old Charles Dean Howard was arrested and charged with burglary, felony theft and possession of drug paraphernalia after Jim Hartnett of Missouri River Pawn called authorities.

Howard told detectives he stole the musical equipment for money and was at the Salvation Army asking for help with his rent and while he was there he noticed the unlocked chapel. According to detectives Howard acted alone but had an acquaintance pawn the items.

Both the Helena Police Department and the Missouri River Pawn Shop thank local media coverage for making the public aware about the items stolen.

Helena Police Chief Troy McGee says “well it’s hard to say if we would have found them or not, we may have, maybe not. I mean the pawn shops in Helena are very reliable, very honest and upfront, I know some people think that pawn shops take a lot of stolen stuff, under the table and all that and they just don’t do that. All of them are reputable businesses and they don’t want stolen items either. They’ll call us right away if they feel that they have an item that may be stolen.”

Howard also told detectives he made two trips from his apartment to the chapel to take the stolen equipment. Howard was released on a $15,000 bond.

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