Law Enforcement Cracks Missing Tools Case

A Bellevue man has been taken into custody as law enforcement personnel try to sort out how military tools from a base in California ended up in a building located northwest of Elgin.
According to Antelope County Sheriff Bob Moore, Richard A. Hoke, 32, of Bellevue was arrested for stealing military property (tools) which were found in a building approximately one mile west and two miles north of Elgin.
Moore said law enforcement was notified by Lindsey Reel after she discovered the military items being stored in the building.
The value of the items in the building was estimated to be somewhere between $2,500 and $3,000.
“Lindsey did the right thing by contacting us,” Moore said last week. “She had nothing to do with the taking of the tools.”
The investigation was conducted by the sheriff’s office, the Nebraska State Patrol and the United States Marine Corps.
Prior to coming to Nebraska to work as a recruiter for the Marine Corps, Hoke was a Marine Corps helicopter pilot based in California. Moore said the items recovered were from the California base.
Hoke was arrested in Antelope County and then transported back to Omaha by Marine Corps personnel.