Lincoln Police have arrested a man in connection with a string of crimes Sunday morning. Officers were called just before 8:30 a.m. to a business near South 6th Street and West Pioneers Boulevard after a 43-year-old Lincoln man reported his business had been broken into and his truck stolen.
“It was discovered the person responsible had pried open a key box, removed the door key and gone inside,” says Public Information Manager Erika Thomas. “He drank two bottles of liquor from inside the business and left keys behind that did not belong to the suspect or the victim.”
Thomas says the suspect was captured on video setting that vehicle on fire before stealing the victim’s truck, his clothes inside, a bag of change and the front door key to the building. She says officers identified the suspect as 47-year-old Joshua Watkins of Lincoln. “He was taken into custody during an unrelated call for service and found with the business key in his pocket, the bag of change and wearing the victim’s clothes which were taken from the stolen truck.”
Thomas says the 2001 Ford F250 pickup truck valued at $8,000 is still missing. Watkins was taken to the Lancaster County Jail and booked for burglary, theft and auto theft.
(Photo: Lancaster County Dept. of Corrections)