Moore

TOLEDO – A Marshalltown man with an extensive rap sheet has been arrested and charged by the Tama County Sheriff’s Office in connection with the late December burglaries of the Garwin and Gladbrook American Legions.

Convicted felon Matthew Lee Moore, 42, was arrested on a warrant by the Tama County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, Jan. 16, and charged with five counts including ongoing criminal conduct – a Class B felony; first degree criminal mischief, second degree criminal mischief and third degree burglary – all Class D felonies; and third degree criminal mischief, an aggravated misdemeanor.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER — The William Saunders American Legion Post 71 building in downtown Garwin pictured on Friday, Jan. 17. The Legion-Lounge was burglarized on Dec. 27, 2024. A Marshalltown man was arrested on Thursday, Jan. 16, in connection with the burglary as well as a similar one at the Gladbrook Legion.

According to the criminal complaint, sometime in the early morning hours of Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, Moore allegedly gained access without permission to the Ehrig-McTurk American Legion Post 127 building at 421 Johnston Street in Gladbrook through an exterior door that had been left unlocked overnight. The post home is part of the Gladbrook Memorial Building located just south of downtown.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER — The Ehrig-McTurk American Legion Post 127 building in Gladbrook pictured on Friday, Jan. 17. The Gladbrook Legion was burglarized on Dec. 27, 2024. A Marshalltown man was arrested on Thursday, Jan. 16, in connection with the burglary as well as a similar one at the Garwin Legion.

Once inside the Legion, Moore is alleged to have forcefully gained access to the bar by disabling the door; he then located keys to a rifle cabinet where a bag containing $400 cash had been kept.

The reporting party – a member of the Gladbrook Legion – told the investigating deputy it was unusual for the exterior door to be left unlocked.

Also on Dec. 27, 2024, Moore is alleged to have committed a similar burglary at the William Saunders American Legion Post 71 building located in downtown Garwin at 601 Third Street. The post home is part of the Garwin Legion-Lounge.

Moore is alleged to have illegally entered the Garwin Legion, where he forcefully gained access to two gaming machines that had been secured with deadbolt locks – a Super El Dorado machine and a Captain Jack machine. Both machines are owned by Entertainment Coin-Op Services. The total amount of damages to the two machines is estimated at $6,217.

While entering the Garwin Legion, Moore also allegedly caused nearly $1,000 in damage to the exterior doors.

Moore was identified as the suspect in both the Gladbrook and Garwin burglaries, according to court documents, due to his “unusual thick glasses and gait.” Video footage Tama County Detective Trevor Killian received from other law enforcement agencies experiencing recent “similar burglaries” – all with the same MO – allowed the Sheriff’s Office to identify the suspect in light of a comparable burglary spree in the area dating back to 2020 that involved Moore.

Court documents also indicate the vehicle used in the recent non-Tama County burglaries “is an exact match” to a 2005 blue Ford F-150 truck registered to Moore.

All the recent burglaries allegedly attributed to Moore occurred in a brief time period in surrounding counties, per court documents.

As of press time, Moore had made an initial appearance in Tama County District Court and was being held at the Tama County Jail on a $50,000 cash only bond; no attorney had yet been listed for Moore in the case.

2020 burglary spree

Moore eventually pleaded guilty in the 2020 burglary spree which Tama County detectives utilized while investigating the Dec. 27, 2024 American Legion burglaries.

The 2020 case involved at least nine burglaries throughout the state of Iowa taking place from Jan. 23, 2020, to March 30, 2020. Two of those burglaries occurred in or near Tama County including at the Traer Short Stop and the 405 Lounge in Reinbeck, both on Jan. 23, 2020. Other locations burglarized were in Cedar Falls, Clive, Ames, Altoona, West Des Moines, Norwalk, and Ankeny.

Treads on shoes seized from Moore’s Marshalltown residence as part of the 2020 investigation matched prints left in the snow by Moore in both the Traer and Cedar Falls burglaries. Surveillance footage was also used in the 2020 investigation.

After initially pleading not guilty in the 2020 case, Moore withdrew his plea and entered a written plea of guilty on Oct. 27, 2020, to one count of third degree burglary as a habitual felon, a Class D felony. He was sentenced in the case to an indeterminate term not to exceed 15 years. Two additional charges in the case were dismissed.

Marshalltown VFW burglary

While Moore has an extensive history of burglary in the state of Iowa including in Marshall County, as of press time he has not been charged or implicated in a recent Marshalltown Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 839 Hall burglary which bears a striking similarity to the Garwin/Gladbrook Legion burglaries.

According to previous reporting by the T-R, the Marshalltown VFW was burglarized on the night of Jan. 6-7, 2025, during which thieves gained entry into the building by smashing the back door. The offices of both Post 839 Commander Larry Tuttle and Post 839 Quartermaster Roger Dirks were broken into and a safe was stolen that contained about $1,000 in cash, $450 in undeposited checks, extra keys, and important papers including the deed to the 107 E. Meadow Lane building.

Marshalltown Police Department (MPD) Capt. Chris Jones said no arrests had been made in the VFW investigation as of Thursday evening.