A man charged with going into a home along Bayside Terrace in Lakeview and stealing television sets and other items appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court February 6.
Forty-two-year-old Michael Shane Burkeen pled guilty to the charges against him and was sentenced to six years probation and ordered to pay $3,500 in victim restitution.
At the time of the break-in, Burkeen is reported to have been working with a contractor remodeling parts of the home at the Bayside Terrace address.
The owner told investigators he allowed the contractor and Burkeen to enter the property using what was referred to as a “hidden driveway.”
The drive comes to the back door of the residence and gives easy access to the kitchen that was being worked on at the time.
The homeowner told police he had let his contractor know he would be working the following day from 4:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and that he would leave the back door to the house unlocked so work could continue.
Burkeen was reported to have been present for the conversation.
The contractor was expected to be at work on the Lakeview project, but a job in Central Arkansas came up that had to be done quickly and he did not show up at Bayside Terrace.
Burkeen did not go with him to the Central Arkansas job, according to the probable cause affidavit.
At 10:28 a.m., a black sedan is shown on video surveillance pulling up to the back of the house using the “hidden driveway.”
A subject got out of the car and went into the house. He is seen on the video removing items from the house and taking them to the vehicle.
A female was driving the car. She is reported not to have gone into the house, but did assist in loading items being brought out of the house into the vehicle.
When the homeowner returned from work, he found the screen door to the back deck of the house locked in the open position. He checked the residence and found that television sets and other items were missing.
The car seen in the surveillance footage was a black 2006 Lexus that was traced to one of Burkeen’s relatives, according to the probable cause affidavit.
According to the homeowner and the contractor, Burkeen was the only other person that knew the owner would be at work and that he would be leaving the back door open so the remodeling work could continue.
Burkeen was reported to have been employed by the contractor for a very short time prior to the theft.
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