SHREWSBURY, Mo. - Several vehicles were broken into near Shrewsbury Park two days ago, with police making an arrest under a new Missouri law that reclassifies such incidents as second-degree burglary.

The break-ins occurred along streets near Shrewsbury Park, where a Jeep was found with its belongings scattered inside. The recent arrest is notable because it falls under a new Missouri statute that took effect on Aug. 28, which classifies these break-ins as a Class D felony.

Chad Anderson, whose Jeep was affected, learned about the incident from a neighbor’s doorbell camera.

“It was like 7:30 in the morning and we heard some sirens go off in the park at the bottom of our street. Then we saw them zoom up our street and not much later than that, we got some social posts that a guy had been breaking into cars and was caught," Anderson said.

The new Missouri law reclassifies vehicle break-ins as second-degree burglary, making them a Class D felony under statute 569.170.

Police have not yet released the name of the suspect, but charges are expected soon. Residents are eager to see how the new law will impact the frequency of vehicle break-ins in their neighborhood.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KTVI. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KTVI staff before being published.