Firetruck stolen, found on Cape street

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department deputies are investigating a burglary, theft and vandalism incident involving a firetruck stolen from the Hanover station belonging to the East County Fire Protection District.

The break-in is believed to have occurred between the hours of 2 and 5 a.m. Saturday, fire chief Dwayne Kirchhoff said.

Kirchhoff learned of the burglary when Cape Girardeau police reported that the truck had been found Saturday morning in the 1400 block of Henderson Avenue, within city limits.

After calling the captain on duty and hearing there had been no calls for service during that time, Kirchhoff told police there was no reason the truck should be at that location, he said.

With the assistance of law enforcement, they retrieved the truck and brought it back to the station. The right side of the front bumper was scratched, as though the vehicle had hit something, Kirchhoff said.

When personnel arrived at the fire station, one of the three stations belonging to the East County department, they found that someone had also tampered with the other two trucks inside the building.

The suspect appeared to have gained entry by peeling back the sheet metal wall in the rear right corner of the building, leaving a hole about a foot and a half wide. Bloodstains streaked across the jagged metal that had been pried upward.

RIGHT: A hole was cut in the wall of the East County Fire Protection District's station north of the Cape Girardeau city limits sometime early Saturday. One of the three firetrucks inside was stolen. It was later recovered on a Cape Girardeau street. FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com

Blood was found on several other surfaces inside the building and on a small pickup truck sitting in the parking lot, indicating the intruder may have been injured while trying to break in.

A medical bag had disappeared from the station, along with a radio, a walkie-talkie, two air masks, an air pack and a pickhead ax, Kirchhoff said.

More equipment and supplies were found in a cornfield behind the station.

The pickup truck had been reported stolen from the 100 block of Themis Street between 11 p.m. Friday and 1 a.m. Saturday, said Detective Jamie Malugen of the sheriff's department.

Underneath the pickup was a battery charger belonging to the fire station, and jumper cables were still attached to the truck's battery, Kirchhoff said.

The suspect apparently also took a bottle of water from inside the station, where supplies of water are kept for firefighters returning from emergency calls. The empty bottle was found in the parking lot near the truck.

Because of mutual aid agreements with all other county fire departments, Kirchhoff said the incident will not affect service.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245