A report of a prowler lead officers to the man suspected of stealing a Sara Lee delivery truck early Friday morning from a South Broadway restaurant.
At 9:54 a.m., the Butler County Sheriff's Department received the report of a prowler on Brooks Farm Road, north of U.S. 60 and Marble Hill Road, said Chief Deputy Wes Popp.
Deputies "rolled up on him on the property," Popp said. " ... They asked how he got there; he initially lied and said he got there by boat.
"Then, he said, by bread truck. He said he's the one who took the bread truck."
The man, who was wearing no shirt, was identified as 34-year-old Marshall Jones, whose driver's license listed a St. Charles, Mo., address, said Popp.
Just before press time, Popp said, Jones, who is wanted on a Ripley County warrant, was taking officers to the location where he had abandoned the bread truck.
The truck had been reported stolen at about 6:10 a.m. when Poplar Bluff Police Patrolman Robert Reed was sent to Sonic in the 1900 block of South Broadway, where he contacted Paul Scheurger, an employee of Bimbo Bakeries.
Scheurger reported to Reed he had stopped at Sonic at about 6 a.m. to check on their bread supply and was inside the business for about 10 minutes.
"Scheurger stated when he exited the business, his bread delivery truck ... was 'gone,'" Reed wrote in his report. "(He) stated he first thought it was a prank and maybe someone had moved his truck because he left the keys in the ignition."
Reed said Scheurger further reported he looked up Broadway and saw his truck sitting on the east side of the road at the intersection of Ashcroft Road.
"Scheurger stated he then observed the vehicle travel north on Broadway, and he lost sight of it as it approached the Fifth Street overpass," Reed said.
Officers, he said, received a possible sighting of the truck off Honeysuckle Lane (off of Marble Hill Road) moments later; however, the truck was not found.
"The person driving the Sara Lee bread truck attempted to break into a residence, then did make entry into their vehicle," Popp said. "When he was confronted, he got back in the truck and fled."
Multiple officers with the both the police department and sheriff's department attempted to locate the vehicle, said police Detective Andy Cleaveland.
Officers, he said, searched "everything downtown" and in northern Poplar Bluff, both inside and outside the city limits.
"The city and county set up on all the roads around (Honeysuckle Lane) in an effort to secure the area while they searched," Popp explained. "Apparently, he was using field roads on properties to get away.
" ... he hit one road where he couldn't make it and ended up leaving the truck behind."