Defendant waives hearing in violent burglary attack case

Jeff Lehr, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·3 min read

Oct. 25—NEOSHO, Mo. — A man suspected of theft from a church, and breaking into a business and two residences the same night in Joplin and putting a gun to the head of an occupant of one of the homes waived preliminary hearings Monday on multiple felony counts.

Kevin V. Granger, 29, of rural Purdy, waived the hearings in Newton County Circuit Court with respect to seven felony counts and was ordered to make an initial appearance on those charges in a trial division of the court on Nov. 23.

Granger faces counts of first-degree burglary, first-degree assault, armed criminal action, first-degree arson, unlawful possession of a firearm and vehicle tampering with respect to acts committed the night of July 27 at the home of Brent Ogle on Birch Road just outside Joplin city limits.

The defendant also was ordered to stand trial on a second count of first-degree burglary related to break-ins of a vehicle and residence later the same night on Woodland Avenue in Joplin.

Two counts of second-degree burglary that Granger was facing with respect to burglaries at those addresses were dismissed by the Newton County prosecutor's office.

Ogle was asleep in bed when he heard something and woke up find a man in his home who put a gun to his temple and threatened to kill him, according to a probable-cause affidavit. The intruder put a pillow over Ogle's face, making him fear that he was about to shoot him before hitting him on the head with the butt of the gun instead and knocking him unconscious.

When Ogle came to his senses minutes later, he could hear the man still in his home and decided to play dead. He told a deputy that he could hear the burglary laughing about him being "dead" as he continued ransacking his residence.

The intruder took Ogle's cellphone and wallet containing $300 cash and credit cards, along with a family wedding ring set and his pickup truck, according to the affidavit. He also purportedly set his garage on fire before leaving, destroying an estimated $10,000 worth of property inside.

The man left behind a 1999 Ford pickup truck registered to Granger as well as a license plate belonging to him. The license plate, a handgun and a key to a BMW were found on the front steps of Ogle's home.

In the meantime, Joplin police responded to an alarm at a business in the 4900 block of South Range Line Road, where they found a chain-link fence knocked down and found Granger allegedly rummaging through a Jeep Wrangler parked nearby. He was ordered out of the vehicle, handcuffed and taken to a Joplin hospital for treatment of apparent narcotics intoxication.

The owner of the Jeep told police that Granger was going through his vehicle when he woke up. He identified a virtual reality headset recovered from the vehicle as his property that had been in a spare bedroom. He told police that Granger must have gained access to his home while he was sleeping using a garage door opener that was in his Jeep.

Affidavits filed with the charges state that the operations manager of the business identified several construction lasers found in the Jeep as belonging to the business, which had some possible pry marks visible on a door.

Those affidavits also indicate that Granger is suspected of having stolen a box trailer, some ladders, three iPads, some microphones and pool balls from Hope City Church on Jaguar Road. Some of those items were recovered from the truck stolen from Ogle, while others were found in the vehicle Granger left at Ogle's address, according to the affidavits.