A 19-year-old Firth man has been arrested in connection with a crime spree in Waverly earlier this month. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Ben Houchin says on August 2 deputies investigated the theft of three pickups, with one being valued at $140,000.
In addition, two men tried to steal the ATM at First State Bank and caused about $1,500 in damage. Houchin says $50 in cash and prescription drugs were stolen from a different vehicle and $2,000 in cash and 12 credit and five debit cards were taken from a second vehicle.
Houchin says Christian Randels was initially arrested a day after the crime spree on separate charges. He says deputies went to 84th and Saltillo Road on a suspicious vehicle. They found Randels in a ditch, who said he had run out of gas. Houchin says they began to build a case related to the Waverly thefts.
“He went on a huge crime spree. This was a very good one to get off the street and to protect the citizens of Lincoln/Lancaster county,” Houchin says. He says that rash of crimes has stopped since the arrest and the search for an accomplice continues.