A Royal man who was arrested for burglarizing the American Legion earlier this year after his mother, a club employee, recognized him was sentenced to 54 months in prison Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to the charges.
Steven Shane Shirley, 29, who had remained in custody since his arrest May 25, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to felony charges of commercial burglary and theft of property more than $1,000 and was sentenced to 54 months on each count, to run concurrently, and ordered to pay $170 in court costs.
According to the affidavit, the club, located at 3237 Albert Pike Road, was burglarized May 23 by two men who stole about $1,400 in cash. Garland County sheriff's Investigator Brandon Huckaba responded to the scene and made contact with Shirley's mother, the only employee working at the time of the incident.
She said she noticed two people coming in the door on the security camera. One was wearing a motorcycle helmet and the other had on what appeared to be a white sheet. After seeing them on the camera, she left the business through another door and remained outside until she thought they had left.
She said she believed one of the suspects was her son, identified as Shirley, noting she could tell by how he walked and his mannerisms. She also said he would know where to get the money, and she had seen him earlier that day wearing clothing similar to what the suspect with the sheet over his head was wearing.
Huckaba viewed the security video, which verified the employee's account. The video showed that, at 9:17 p.m., two people dressed like she described entered the business, followed by her running out through a different exit. The two men then entered the bar area, and the one wearing the white sheet removed three bank bags from behind the bar. He then placed two bags back into the drawer, kept one, and then both men fled.
Two days later, Huckaba interviewed Shirley, who said he was upset with his mother. He said he told a man he was staying with that he knew a place where they could "hit a lick," slang for committing a robbery. He admitted they entered the American Legion and he grabbed the bank bags because he knew where they were kept.
Local on 11/16/2017