Suspect identified in Atkins burglary case
BY ALEXANDRIA RANDOLPH
HIGHLAND LAKES NEWSPAPERS
A Kingsland man was arrested on Sunday on warrants issued by Marble Falls police in connection with the Atkins Pharmacy burglary earlier this month.
The Austin Police Department arrested William Franklin Buse, 48, on charges of burglary of a building, a state jail felony, after Marble Falls police said the owner of the business had identified him due to a previous encounter at the store at 701 Third Street.
According to an arrest affidavit, police recovered surveillance footage from the scene of the crime which captured images of the suspect during the burglary.
“Upon review of the surveillance video, (the owner) recognized the suspect as an individual he'd spoken with in the parking lot of the pharmacy the previous day,” wrote Sgt. Trisha Ratliff in the affidavit.
Surveillance footage from the previous day was reviewed and police confirmed the suspect was the same individual.
Ratliff said she checked the registration of the vehicle used in the burglary and identified Buse as the owner. She then got a photograph of Buse through the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) driver's license database and recognized him as the suspect captured in surveillance footage.
The owner of the pharmacy also positively identified the defendant in a photograph lineup, she said.
Ratliff said the burglary occurred in the early morning hours of Sept. 7.
“I responded to Atkins Pharmacy where I observed signs of forcible entry into the building by way of the roof,” Ratliff said. “I recovered multiple items of physical evidence from the scene...”
The suspect used cutting tools to open a portion of the roof and climb down onto shelving units within the store, Ratliff said.
Atkins Pharmacy management said there were two different types medication stolen during the burglary.
Buse, known by the alias “Bubba,” has a record of arrests in Burnet County on assault charges. He was booked in Travis County Jail on Sunday, Sept. 18, and remains there on bond of $5,000.
