Serial Sonic burglar convicted in Kansas after bags of stolen cash found in his van
A man accused of burglarizing multiple Kansas Sonic Drive-In restaurants has been found guilty in a Leavenworth court, after police found him with bank bags filled with cash from the Tonganoxie fast food joint.
Patrick Best, 30, pleaded no contest to one count of theft of property Wednesday in Leavenworth County District Court. A judge found him guilty, according to Todd Thompson, the Leavenworth County Attorney.
“No one should expect to be able to drive in and steal without consequences,” Thompson said in a Friday news release.
Best also pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and theft involving local Sonic restaurants in three previous criminal cases. In January, he pleaded guilty to a burglary in Wyandotte County. In May, he pleaded guilty to individual counts of burglary and theft in Johnson County. In August, he pleaded no contest to a burglary in Douglas County, Thompson said.
In the most recent case, Best was stopped by Gardner police on April 17, 2022.
They searched Best’s van and discovered a DVR, a cash register and bank bags from a Tonganoxie, Kansas, Sonic, about 31 miles west of Kansas City. Authorities also located keys belonging to a Lawrence, Kansas, Sonic and various tools believed to have been used during a burglary.
Police determined an employee of the Tonganoxie Sonic had reported a burglary on April 16. The suspect had walked through the restaurant’s front door and grabbed two bags of money amounting to $6,300.
Surveillance footage obtained from the fast food chain showed the suspect driving the same vehicle that Best was driving when stopped.
He is scheduled for sentencing on November 8.
