Suspect in Kansas City storage thefts was also investigated in Johnson County crimes
A man recently arrested on allegations of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items from dozens of people renting storage units in the Kansas city metro was previously investigated for the same crime in Overland Park, court records show.
Edward Ewell, 40, was taken into custody by Kansas City police on April 14 after police found items connected to dozens of reported thefts in his storage unit. The man had allegedly been cutting locks off of other storage units and replacing them with his own.
Police said they have been investigating Ewell, whose address is currently listed in court records as St. Louis, since 2015 for fraud, identity theft and burglaries of storage units in Johnson County. He was also previously charged for writing bad checks and aggravated intimidation of a witness.
In a 2016 interview with an Overland Park detective, Ewell admitted to multiple storage unit burglaries, according to court records.
As recently as December, he was charged with burglary, misdemeanor theft and identity theft in Johnson County.
An application for a search warrant filed in Jackson County to investigate a second storage unit operated by Ewell reveals more details leading up to his arrest.
Mid-morning on April 8, the manager of the Public Storage at 8650 Troost Avenue noticed a man sleeping in an SUV outside an open storage unit that was overflowing with items, court records show. She also noticed tape and spray paint covering some of the surveillance cameras.
The manager called police, who woke up the man. He claimed to be named “Christopher,” even though he’d previously told the manager his name was Eddie, court records show. The man told officers he was helping his mother move some things.
The next day Ewell called the manager to ask why she called police. He also told her he covered up the cameras so that she wouldn’t see him smoking in the building, which was prohibited.
A day later, two people renting units at the facility complained to the manager that their locks had been changed. One man said everything had been stolen. The other said some items were missing.
The manager, who had taken some photos of the open unit before calling police, asked one of the men if any of the items in belonged to them. He said yes.
Police called the woman who owned the open unit where they found the sleeping man. She said that she lives in Montana but her son was using the unit. Then she signed a consent form to let police search it.
Ewell was arrested the next day while driving from Harrah’s Casino.
After Ewell’s arrest, the manager found another unit, rented under the name of a man living in New York, with a broken lock. Inside she found a prescription bottle for Ewell. Police contacted the man in New York, who told them he lost his ID while visiting Kansas City.
Police at a news conference last week told media that they’ve matched some of the items in Ewell’s unit to items reported stolen by victims at Lenexa, Olathe and Overland Park storage facilities.
“We had one victim that had a lot of commemorative items missing and two or three that were in the process of moving so they put all their stuff into storage,” police said at the time.
Police are asking Kansas Citians to check on their storage units and file a report with the department for any property that may be missing. They believe there could be many more victims and that items totaling more than $250,000 in worth had been recovered.
Anyone who believes their property was stolen in the storage theft spree is asked to visit KCPD’s Metro Patrol at 7601 Prospect Ave. between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday to reclaim their goods. Police also ask that they bring their police report from the theft and identification.
