Columbia man charged after allegedly selling stolen scooter to undercover detective

A Columbia man is charged with felony stealing after allegedly taking at least two scooters from MU’s Athletic Training Center.

Zachary Detar was charged Thursday for the thefts, one of which happened back in May.

Court documents say the victim’s Yamaha scooter was parked at the University of Missouri Athletic Training Center on May 11. When he went to retrieve it on June 15, the scooter was missing.

According to the probable cause statement, the victim found his scooter, valued at $1,500, on Craigslist and contacted the University of Missouri Police Department.

A detective with MUPD responded to the Craigslist ad and met up with the seller, Zachary Detar, at the Virginia Avenue parking garage. Court documents say Detar was in possession of the stolen scooter.

The detective says Detar originally denied having knowledge that the scooter was stolen. He told the detective that he regularly purchases scooters, refurbishes them and then resells them.

The detective then obtained a search warrant for Detar’s home on Overhill Road in West Columbia. He says they found a second motorized scooter, which was also stolen from the athletic training center.

Court documents say Detar later admitted to stealing the original victim’s scooter. Detar has an arraignment scheduled for Sept. 13.