Quick arrest made after residential burglary suspect caught on animal cam

The Grant County Sheriff's Office reports that an Electric City resident, a suspect in a recent Sagebrush Flats Rd NW residential burglary is in custody thanks to an animal camera.

Steve Kiona, 37, was taken into custody Sunday night for investigation of burglary. Already a convicted felon, he was also found with a loaded firearm in the back seat of his vehicle, as well as items potentially taken from the Sagebrush Flats residence, the sherrif's office said.

Just before 2 p.m. Sunday, the sheriff's office received the call for a suspected residential burglary on Sagebrush Flats Road, near Ephrata. After conducting a search and determining the home was empty, a preliminary inventory list of stolen items was made. Fingerprints and photographic evidence were also taken.

The man living there then told a deputy that an animal camera positioned on the property pointed towards the driveway. After looking at the camera's memory card, a dark colored vehicle with a clear image of the license plate, as well as a suspect, were discovered.

While the suspect was not immediately identifiable from the image, the license plate on the vehicle was traced to a registered owner who said he had sold the vehicle about four months ago. He no longer had the suspect's contact information, but he did identify the suspect from the image as the same man who had purchased his car.

At approximately 6:10 p.m. Sunday night, the previous car owner called sheriff's office, saying that the suspect had come to his home asking for a vehicle bill of sale. A deputy caught up to the suspect shortly afterward on SR 28.

"This was a good catch," Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones said. "Between the animal camera and the quick-thinking former car owner, we were able to identify and get this suspect off the street within hours of the burglary."