Two Baker residents charged with burglarizing a Santa Rosa County business last month will also be charged in connection with a string of church burglaries in Okaloosa County, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.
Westley Steiner, 26, and Anastasia Anderson, 20, were arrested during a break-in at Skateland on Stewart Street in Milton around 11:15 p.m. on Feb. 27. Steiner was inside wearing a mask and a “head lamp” while carrying a backpack with pry tools, gloves, bolt cutters and hammers, according to an arrest report.
Anderson was found nearby, waiting in a white Volkswagen hatchback, the report stated. When Santa Rosa deputies searched the car, they found a safe with an envelope from the Niceville church of God; that church had been burglarized Jan. 17.
Investigators say Anderson admitted to taking part in church burglaries with Steiner in Niceville, Harold (Santa Rosa County) and in Pensacola. She said stolen belongings could be found at their home at 1181 Blackberry Circle in Baker, they said.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the home March 1. They located numerous stolen goods ranging from a motorcycle taken from 1104 Blackberry Circle in Baker to musical equipment, a generator and laptops.
They reportedly found items from Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Baker, Antioch Baptist Church of Crestview, First Baptist Church of Bluewater Bay, First Baptist Church of Milligan, Palm Chapel Primitive Baptist Church of Crestview and the Crossroads Church in Niceville.
Steiner and Anderson are currently in the Santa Rosa County jail on charges of burglary and criminal mischief. Their Okaloosa warrants will be served at a later date.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker residents charged in connection with string of church burglaries