MADISON (WKOW) -- Police say video surveillance led them to arrest an employee of the Dane County Humane Society for a burglary last Monday.
On July 30th, officers responded to the animal shelter on Voges Road to investigate donation boxes that were damaged overnight and at least $200 in missing cash. Shelter officials say the money had been in donation boxes that were earmarked for shelter improvements.
In a news release Friday afternoon, Officer Howard Payne says when police were checking out surveillance video, staff employees recognized 52-year-old Otis B. Adams, a grounds assistant for the facility. Officers said the video showed him apparently manipulating the security cameras with a stick, presumably to hide his reportedly planned activities. But a fragment of the footage allegedly still showed him taking cash out of the donation boxes.
Investigators said he'd accessed the building with a provided key, but was working well after hours and at a time when no other employees were there.
Police took Adams into custody around noon Friday at his home after investigators developed more background in the case. In addition to likely facing charges of burglary to a building and damage to property, Adams could also be charged with violating parole.
The incident marks the second burglary of an area animal shelter in the past few days. Janesville Police are investigating a break-in at the Humane Society of Southern Wisconsin Wednesday. The suspect there got away with only $20 in donated cash.