Police Arrest Suspect Accused Of Breaking Into Stores, Stealing Cigarettes And Liquor

Tulsa Police make a major break in a nearly yearlong investigation into a man accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes and liquor from stores all across Green Country.

Investigators say Michael McCalister and an accomplice have done smash-and-grabs at stores in Tulsa, Claremore, Collinsville, Coweta, Catoosa, Pryor, and Bristow.

Related: 'Just So Frustrating': Pryor Store Owner Loses Thousands After Thieves Steal Cigarettes

News On 6 has reported on these cases for weeks. In all of them, the thieves wore masks, brought their own City of Tulsa trash cans, brought their own landscaping rock to break the glass, and were in and out in about a minute. Police say they found all those items inside McCalister's garage on Tuesday.

Related: Bristow Store Owner Says He's Out Thousands After Thieves Break In, Steal Cigarettes

News On 6 was there when Tulsa Police burglary detectives arrested McCalister at a house in Owasso. They say McCalister is a serial thief who has been victimizing business owners in at least four counties over a span of months.

“Just wasn't stopping. Just continually going. Never stopped. That allowed us to come up with suspect vehicle information, suspect information. You've got to assume there's cameras everywhere,” said Lieutenant Tim Means with Tulsa Police.

Police say McCalister's consistent MO eventually did him in. It started with a series of liquor store burglaries months ago, then moved to convenience store burglaries, and in almost all the cases, the thieves were in a gray Jeep and did the exact same thing.

“They break a window, they go in. If they are targeting cigarettes, they just grab all the cigarettes and merchandise they can and throw them into these trash cans and just haul them out and take off unknown amounts, sometimes $20,000 in cigarettes,” said Means.

Police got a tag number, put it out, and immediately got calls from other agencies with similar cases. We reported on a case in Pryor earlier this month with the exact same MO. At that time, officers saw the suspect's vehicle on their license plate reading cameras.

Then, just days later, we reported on a Bristow case where police say the same thieves stole $20,000 worth of cigarettes from a convenience store, and their license plate reading cameras also caught both suspect vehicles.

“The video is a big key thing at the scene of the crime because when they are doing it, you can see their MO and how they do it and how they come in and what they do, so it just really ties everything together with video,” said Means.

Police say they found clothes that match the burglaries, a face mask, a landscaping rock, and even a City of Tulsa trash can in McCalister's garage. 

“It's not hard to figure he's never stopped. Unless he's in prison or locked up, that's the only way he's going to stop, I think,” said Means.

Records show McCalister has spent time in prison for gun convictions, assault, robbery, and drugs.

Police are still looking for the others involved. Detectives say if there are more burglary victims out there, they should call Tulsa Police.