7/18 – 3:29 p.m. – Police took a bicycle theft report, at Circle K. A juvenile, along with his grandmother, reported someone had stolen his bicycle while he was in the store. The juvenile and his friend had noticed a suspicious male outside the store looing at his bike. They noted the suspect’s description along with the vehicle he was associated with. The responding officer and the juvenile located the suspect vehicle on the store’s surveillance system. The officer remembered seeing the vehicle, which was utilized in repairing a home, parked at a residence on South Tyler Street. Officers responded to the residence, and located the bicycle concealed in a trailer being pulled by the suspect’s vehicle. Upon interviewing multiple subjects on the scene, police determined who the suspect was, and he was taken into custody. The following day the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office charged the defendant, Michael P. Hoepfinger age 34 of Belleville, with Theft. His bond was set at $2,000.
