Dexter police arrest suspect in home invasion

DEXTER, Mo. — A quick response by the Dexter Police Department resulted in the arrest of an area man.

Travis Dean Burnett, 21, was charged with first-degree burglary following a burglary at the Michael Lasater home on Route AD in Dexter at about 2 a.m. Thursday.

According to the report by officer John Moore, police were advised Cheryl Lasater had reported that she was awakened shortly before 2 a.m. by a noise in her bedroom. While still in her bed, she reportedly saw a man with a flashlight rummaging through her jewelry cabinet inside her bedroom closet.

Cheryl Lasater called out, "Who are you?" but the intruder casually exited the bedroom, walking slowly at first, but then ran from the home, the report said. Mike Lasater then awoke and left the home on foot in pursuit of the suspect while his wife called 911.

"It seemed as if I had barely dialed 911," Cheryl Lasater said, "and there was an officer at my door."

While Moore reported to the Lasater home, Lt. Joel Dorr and Cpl. Wesley Warrick were en route and witnessed a person fitting the description of the intruder walking along Route AD not far from the Lasater residence. The individual, according to the report, was "sweating profusely and moving around in an agitated manner as if nervous."

The two officers stopped and made contact with the subject, the report said, and immediately discovered a number of items on the individual that were later described by the Lasaters as property missing from their home.

Several jewelry items and a cell phone were found on Burnett, according to police. Following identification by members of the Lasater family, Burnett was transported to the city jail and then to the Stoddard County Jail in Bloomfield.

Burnett remains in custody under a cash-only bond of $25,000.