A Marshall man is facing a multitude of charges in connection with a series of burglaries that authorities say took place this past spring across Saline County.
According to probable cause statements from Marshall Police and the Saline County Sheriff’s Office, 34-year-old Robert Dalton Scharnhorst is accused of stealing several vehicles and taking part in a series of burglaries. According to the sheriff’s office, Scharnhorst is alleged to have stolen a white GMC pickup the afternoon of May 13 from a field in southern Saline County, then using it to ram into the front of a downtown Marshall business to steal several display cases. Marshall Police noted in a separate charging document that surveillance footage appeared to show Scharnhorst and an accomplice driving the truck near the business before driving into the storefront and carrying items from the business into the truck. The truck was recovered later that morning in another field just east of Marshall.
Scharnhorst is also accused of stealing another white pickup from the Napton area on May 21. Deputies say that pickup was found a week later near an access ramp to the Missouri River at the end of Cooper Avenue. The probable cause statement goes on to note that cell phone data placed Scharnhorst at the location of both reported thefts, as well as an attempted break-in reported the morning of May 22. Marshall Police say the cell phone data also placed Scharnhorst in the vicinity of two thefts in Marshall, accusing him of stealing an ATV from a Marshall driveway in early May and a third pickup that had been dropped off at a Marshall mechanic in mid-April.
In total, Scharnhorst is facing seven felony charges of stealing, including multiple charges of stealing a motor vehicle, firearms, first degree property damage, and second degree burglary. Scharnhorst was arrested in June on a separate stealing charge, and is also facing a charge from an attempt in July to escape from the Saline County Jail. His arraignment on the four new charges was scheduled for Friday, Dec. 5 in Saline County Circuit Court.
The woman believed to be Scharnhorst’s accomplice in the burglaries, 35-year-old Ashley Nicole Adams, pleaded guilty last month to charges of being an accessory to stealing, burglary, attempted burglary, and receiving stolen property. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 12.