𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐆𝐮𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐢𝐟𝐥𝐞

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒓: 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒂𝒘. 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒔 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒔.

On Aug. 18, 2026, officers from the Columbia Police Department investigated a reported theft and burglary incident at Walmart in the 1200 block of Grindstone Parkway in Columbia.

Witness 1, a Walmart staff member, reported hearing banging. Witness 1 stated he observed James Francis Zoeller behind the gun counter. Witness 1 stated he saw Zoeller pick up a red item and smash the glass to the gun wall.

Witness 2, also a Walmart staff member, reported hearing kicking. Witness 2 stated he observed Zoeller breaking into the gun case and grabbing a hunting rifle. Witness 2 stated Zoeller said, “I'm going to be taking this.”

Investigators reviewed Walmart security camera footage. The footage reportedly showed Zoeller go behind the gun counter, grab a red Dollie, and break the glass cabinet. Zoeller then grabbed a red and black rifle from the gun cabinet. Walmart staff showed investigators the firearm, which was identified as a Savage Arms 93R17 chambered in 17HMR.

Zoeller is now charged with felony stealing and burglary in the first degree.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/newHeader.do?inputVO.caseNumber=26BA-CR03704&inputVO.courtId=CT13#docket