Pair accused of burglarizing dead man’s home in Columbia
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Two people were accused of stealing weed, oil and thousands of dollars from a Columbia home this past weekend, hours after police had conducted a death investigation.
David Stroup Jr., 51, and Uneeda Stroup, 48, both of Alaben, Missouri, were charged with second-degree burglary, stealing more than $750 and stealing drugs. They are both being held at the Boone County Jail on $15,000 bonds. Court dates have not been scheduled.
The probable cause statement says police were called to a Mace Court residence for a death investigation at 7:48 p.m. Saturday. Court documents did not list the dead man’s name, but it stated he owned a dispensary. Police found 10-15 sealed bags of marijuana that weighed roughly a pound each, and various bundles of cash, the statement says.
Around 3 p.m. Sunday, one of the people described as a witness called police to say the home had been burglarized, court documents say.
Video footage at the home allegedly showed a man and a woman arrive around 11:40 p.m. Saturday in a Honda Ridgeline, enter the building multiple times and leaving with boxes, the statement says. The two people went back to the home around 3:51 a.m. Sunday and left with more items, court documents say. They returned one more time at 4:09 a.m.
One of the victims identified the Stroups from the footage, the statement says. One of the witnesses allegedly told police that David Stroup Jr. had asked him around 9:30 a.m. to go to the same home to pick up a game system, court documents say.
Both Stroups initially claimed to have taken the weed and oil, but denied taking the money, the statement says. They then brought a container to the Columbia Police Department that had 14 pounds of marijuana, 15 jars of cannabis oil and $6,701 in cash, the statement says.
David Stroup Jr. then admitted to taking all of the items, but claimed he did not admit it before because he thought police were another acquaintance earlier when they spoke on the phone, the statement says.