SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Three people have been charged in connection to a series of vehicle thefts from October to February.

One arrest led to another in the connected cases. In all over 60 vehicles were involved, with the majority assumed to be stolen.

Randy Dale Lindberg, 39, of Springfield

• One felony count of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.
• One misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.
• An arrest warrant was issued for Lindberg on Nov. 28 and pleaded not guilty to his charges on Nov. 29.
• He was put in jail on a $10,000 bond.
• Lindberg has a preliminary hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 after several cancellations.

According to court documents, Lindberg was arrested on suspicion of stealing a vehicle during Oct. 16-17, 2022. A caller contacted authorities on Oct. 17 about the theft of his white 2000 GMC 3500 dually truck from a dealership.

On Nov. 9, police were reviewing surveillance footage in a case about a stolen 1998 Mercury Tracer that was taken from an apartment complex. In the video, the suspect drove a blue GMC or Chevrolet dually truck outfitted with a license plate taken from a Chevrolet or GMC dually truck that Lindberg used to sell scrap metal several times from Oct. 24 to Nov. 2. Footage showed that the dually truck had been painted blue and was previously white, similar to the GMC truck that was stolen Oct. 17.

On Nov. 27, officers responded to a trespassing report from a Walmart Neighborhood Market. The trespasser was identified as Lindberg — banned from that particular Walmart for stealing — in a blue dually truck. Lindberg fled on foot after being questioned by police. Searching the truck showed that it was the one stolen from the dealership.

According to the police report, Lindberg told police that he had helped a man named Carl Jackson steal three vehicles in November of 2022.

Carl Allen Jackson, 38, of Springfield

• Three felony counts of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.
• Two felony counts of stealing a vehicle.
• A warrant was issued for Jackson on Feb. 9 and he pleaded not guilty to his charges on Feb. 10.
• He is being held without bond at the Greene County Jail.
• Jackson has a counsel status hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 23.

The police report states that Lindberg told police that Jackson was stealing vehicles for an older man who would load them onto a trailer and part them out. Most of the stolen vehicles were older General Motors models since those are easier to steal with “shaved” keys, which is a car key that has had the teeth shaved down so that it can be used as a kind of lockpick.

On Dec. 27, 2022, someone living on South Fort Avenue called the police about their 2019 Hyundai Elantra being stolen after he started it in his driveway and went back inside his home. The caller followed footprints in the snow that led from where his car was parked to a neighboring home where Jackson was known to frequent. The caller asked the residents of that home, who told him Jackson had stolen the Elantra.

Jackson, who was homeless, was known to frequent another home on North Wabash Avenue, where the Elantra was found on Jan. 2. Inside the Elantra was a pay stub that belonged to the owner of a maroon 2000 Chevrolet Silverado that had been reported stolen the same day. Also reported stolen on Jan. 2 was a black 2001 Chevrolet Silverado that had actually been stolen on Dec. 19.

On Dec. 19, it was found that a black 2001 Silverado with the same license plate had been driven by Jackson as he went to sell scrap metal to a South Fort Avenue metal recycling company.

Police found the maroon Silverado painted black at the first home investigated in the case. Jackson’s wallet was in it. The now-black Silverado’s dashboard VIN had been removed and another vehicle’s dashboard VIN glued in its place. However, the VIN sticker on the door did not match. In addition to the wallet, police also found a note on the dashboard:

“Walk to McD; Be Right Back. Always, Carl; Time 3:30”

Police began surveilling Jackson’s movements in the following months.

Charles Lynn Crouse, 64, of Springfield

• Two felony counts of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.
• Two felony counts of money laundering.
• Crouse was arrested on Feb. 2 and pleaded not guilty to his charges on Feb. 3.
• He was being held on a $25,000 bond, but he was bailed out of jail on Feb. 6.
• Crouse has a criminal setting scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on April 18.

Jackson was seen assisting Crouse in loading a 2003 Chevrolet Express can onto Crouse’s trailer. That van was taken to All Metal Recycling on West Division Street and sold for scrap value.

Ozarks First previously covered Crouse‘s 60-vehicle patronage of All Metal Recycling from Oct. 3, 2022, to Jan. 27, 2023. Of the 60 vehicles, only two were accounted for with proper bills of sale and one of those was for a 1991 Ford Ranger that had been reported as stolen before Crouse sold it for scrap metal.

This article will be updated as more information about these cases becomes available.