Wichita police recover $10,000 in property stolen from Special Olympics, other victims
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Wichita police have arrested a man and recovered $10,000 in stolen sporting equipment that belongs to the Wichita Independents Special Olympics Team and other victims. Police said the items were in units at a storage facility 3500 block of W Douglas. Two individuals burglarized the units between March 12-14, according to the department.
Police said Detective Mains, with the WPD Burglary Section, was assigned the case and located surveillance video that showed a glimpse of a U-Haul truck pulling into the neighborhood just east of the storage unit location. Additional investigation revealed that William Farley, 40, of Wichita, had rented the truck. He had two outstanding felony warrants out of Cloud County and Dickenson County for burglary and theft. U-Haul had also started the process to repossess the truck because it was not returned on time.
Shortly after information was sent out to officers to be on the lookout for Farley, a representative from U-Haul located the truck and Farley in the 7100 block of W. Shade. Patrol West officers responded. Farley tried to flee but was quickly apprehended. The U-Haul representative opened the lock on the U-Haul truck and found it to be loaded with property belonging to the Special Olympics. The truck was taken to Property and Evidence while a search warrant was obtained, and Farley was booked for his warrants and new charges of resist/obstruct.
On March 21 and 22, the Burglary Unit executed the search warrant on the U-Haul truck – documenting evidence of six different burglary cases. For two days after the search warrant, detectives returned approximately $10,000 worth of property to the victims. Detectives also worked with the Pawn Unit to place holds on property Farley had pawned at different Pawn shops in Wichita. Farley has since been released to Dickinson County on their felony warrant, and charges for the Wichita cases will be presented to the District Attorney’s Office.
Kimberly Mudd, the Volunteer Director of the Wichita Independents Special Olympics, issued a statement on Facebook thanking Wichita police for their work in recovering the stolen items and those who helped replace what had been taken.
“They were able to recover the walkie talkies, footballs, mega phones, COVID masks and duffle bag. However, before the thief was arrested he had already disposed/sold or whatever with our softball equipment and golf equipment and our tennis shoes. We have been blessed to have such wonderful people from Wichita, Hays, Rose Hill and others who have helped with used and new equipment to help us rebuild. We want to thank everyone who has donated financial to help us replace the missing items,” said Mudd.
clarification: Wichita Independents Special Olympics Team was not the sole victim in this case. Evidence recovered from six burglary cases totaled nearly $10,000, according to Wichita police.
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