Prior, persistent offender Roberts arrested, charged with slew of offenses

An Ash Grove man was arrested on Tuesday, April 7, for allegedly entering another person’s home in Ash Grove and burglarizing it. Jason Roberts has been charged with First Degree Burglary, a Class B Felony in Missouri.
According to the probable cause statement in the case, the homeowner reported that three rifles, a Winchester Model 70 and two Mausers bolt actions, had been stolen, along with a Stihl Model MS180 chainsaw.
The victim also reported that on the morning of Saturday, April 4, Roberts, 43, and a woman, later identified as Deasarea Dakota Bingham, knocked on the victim’s door to ask if he’d seen Roberts’ black dog.
The victim said he told Roberts and Bingham “no,” and they left. The victim also said he thought this was odd as when the dog had gotten out in the past, they simply called it and had never contacted him about it before.
According to the probable cause statement, the victim left his home and returned later that day to find the door forced in and the reported items missing.
A detective with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, who was investigating the incident, reported that he was contacted by an officer with the Willard Police Department on the night of Monday, April 6. The officer told the detective he’d stopped a vehicle being driven by Roberts and had found a small black jewelry box in the back seat and sent the detective a picture of the jewelry box and its contents. Bingham, who was also in the vehicle, departed with the jewelry box, stating she was going home to “check on their dog.”
The detective, before showing the victim the pictures of the jewelry box, spoke with the victim the next day and asked him about the it and its contents. The victim checked his dresser and reported that a jewelry box he owned and its contents were missing. The victim described the jewelry box and its contents; the description matched the jewelry box in the pictures sent by the Willard police officer. The detective then showed the pictures; the victim identified the jewelry box and its contents as his. The victim also said he didn’t personally know Roberts or Bingham, and they’d never had permission to be on his property or possess any of his items.

Confession by the suspect
A search warrant was served on the house where Roberts and Bingham lived. The detective conducted a post-Miranda interview with Roberts, who at first denied knowing anything about the stolen property or burglary. The detective told Roberts he knew about the jewelry box because of the traffic stop in Willard. Roberts claimed he bought the jewelry box from a neighbor for $50, but didn’t know the neighbor’s name and again denied any knowledge of the burglary. The detective told him he didn’t believe him, so he was terminating the interview.
The detective reported that two minutes later, Roberts told him that he did commit the burglary, and that he did so to help Bingham with some “bad checks” and to “support a habit.”
According to the probable cause statement, Roberts told the detective that he spoke to the victim about the dog, and later saw the victim leave his house. He then kicked the door of the victim’s house in, and took the rifles, chainsaw, jewelry box and a weed eater. He told the detective he’d already sold the chainsaw, but told the detective where the other items were in his house. The detective reported he recovered the jewelry box and the rifles.
The detective also spoke with Bingham, who said the robbery was Roberts’ idea, and she never went in the house but just drove the vehicle.

Charges, longtime coming
In addition to being charged with burglary, Roberts is also charged with two counts of forgery, fraudulent use of a credit/debit device, possession of a controlled substance, delivery of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a firearm and DWI-Drug intoxication. The unlawful possession of a firearm and the DWI charges stem from an incident which took place in December of 2014; the other charges stem from incidents which took place in April and May of 2015. He has not yet been to trial on any of those charges.
According to the criminal complaint in the alleged burglary, Roberts is considered a prior and persistent offender due to being convicted of forgery in Dade County in 2005 and methamphetamine production in Cedar County in 2003.
As of press time, Roberts remained in the custody of the Greene County Jail. He is scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing on the first-degree burglary charge on Thursday, April 16. He is scheduled to appear for a disposition hearing on the other charges on Monday, May 4.
As of press time, no charges had been filed against Bingham in the alleged burglary.