Aurora-Marionville Police Department searches for ATV thieves

SPRINGFIELD, Missouri (KY3) – Aurora-Marionville Police are searching for two men who were caught on camera breaking into a local business.

Marionville Powersports employees said the thieves stole two SUVs that were on the premises. This happened just before 1 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15. According to the report, the two men were dropped off near the back of the premises, where they climbed over the fence and wandered among the vehicles. After spotting two vehicles as their target, the two men circled the premises, looking for a way to get them out, according to the general manager of Marionville Powersport.

“They came to our gate and started cutting the barbed wire on the gate. Then they noticed there was a lock on it, cut the lock, opened the gate and then returned to the units to get them out,” McKenzi Jump said.

According to Jump, the two spent about 30 minutes in the store before leaving. Jump said the next morning, the store manager passed by the store and noticed the gate open. She, the owner and the police were called.

“They (police) tried to follow the suspects as they took the machines to see if they could see any tire tracks on the road,” Jump said. “They drove them across U.S. 60 and back behind a couple of businesses.”

According to Jump, the two stolen vehicles belonged to customers who had brought them in for service. The service was completed and they were just waiting for the customers to pick them up, who now had to learn the bad news.

“It’s a difficult conversation because when people leave their machines with us, whether it’s for repair or for us to sell them for them, they’re trusting us with their machines,” Jump said. “And while we do everything we can to protect them, thieves just have other ideas and they don’t care. So we’re left to pick up the pieces. It’s very frustrating.”

This isn’t the first time Marionville Powersports has been broken into and stolen. According to Jump, the last break-in occurred just a few months ago. Back then, thieves drove up to the building in a U-Haul truck, broke down the front door, and stole six motorcycles. In that case, Jump said, the suspects were eventually caught and arrested. And there have been more cases over the years.

“You get it back and it’s spray painted and the things you took off it are no longer usable,” Jump said. “It really hits you hard because these people go in with bad intentions and then we have to deal with the consequences of repairing the property damage.”

Aurora-Marionville police said the investigation is still in the early stages and they hope someone will recognize the suspects after seeing the pictures and surveillance footage.

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