$30K in business items stolen

Lawrence Police are working to recover items stolen during the weekend in a massive burglary at an eastside business.

Police said Thursday they have at least two suspects, and possibly a third, in the theft of more than $30,000 worth of tools, vehicles and office items from Allen Press, 810 E. 10th St.

They identified the suspects as a 32-year-old man with an unknown address and a 31-year-old Topeka woman, but would not release further information about them. Also, a 49-year-old man arrested Wednesday in Oskaloosa was considered a “person of interest” in the case, police said.

An Allen Press employee found the business burglarized when he came to work early Monday morning. A door to the building had been forced open, and four vehicles and hundreds of other items – including hammers, battery chargers, a buried-line locator, grease guns, oil cans and pallets of aluminum press plates – had been stolen from inside.

It took six pages to list all the stolen items on a police report.

Police served a search warrant Monday in the 3300 block of Iowa Street, and Wednesday night at a home at 415 E. Washington St. in Oskaloosa, where they recovered some of the items.

As of Thursday, three of the four vehicles stolen had been recovered.

Police are still investigating.