A Missouri man was charged in connection with the late March theft of a trailer in Monroe County. 

Charged with possession of a converted/stolen vehicle is Cheston W. Hays, 52, of Ballwin, Mo., who faces similar charges elsewhere. 

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department said that shortly before 4 p.m. March 29, deputies were dispatched to the 8800 block of Gilmore Lake Road in Columbia for a stolen trailer report.  

Upon police arrival, it was learned a flatbed trailer had been stolen from the driveway of a residence.   

A joint investigation was conducted by investigators with the Metro East Auto Theft Task and Monroe County Sheriff’s Department. Through the course of the investigation, a suspect vehicle was identified.  Less than 24 hours later, Investigators recovered the stolen trailer at a residence in Ballwin, Mo. 

Hays was charged for this incident in April, but had not been located. 

On June 7, investigators observed video and photographs on social media in regard to a trailer theft that occurred in Albers.  

Investigators noticed similarities with the suspect vehicle regarding the March theft in Monroe County and contacted the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department to share this information. 

Hays was taken into custody June 7 by St. Louis County Police. The information shared between the citizens and area law enforcement agencies resulted in another investigation being solved in Clinton County.

On June 15, Hays was transported from St. Louis to the Monroe County Jail, where he remains in custody with bond set at $80,000.