Chad J. Fajardo

SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (May 23, 2012) — An area man already facing two Pulaski County charges of stealing guns from his father and another person now faces new charges of stealing a Wii gaming console, remotes, and games from a local pastor who had allowed the man, his girlfriend, and their child to “stay a few days with them to help them get on their feet.”

The pastor said he’s also missing a $600 Rugger 9mm pistol that hasn’t yet been found.

Chad J. Fajardo, 29, doesn’t have a home and his address is listed in court documents as being the Pulaski County Jail. According to the court reports, deputies received a call Tuesday from the pastor who said Fajardo had taken a $350 Wii and a 250 Kindle Fire and pawned them at Waynesville Pawn and Gun. A check with the pawn shop showed that Fajardo had pawned the Wii and Fajardo’s mother had pawned the Kindle.

Fajardo admitted taking the electronic equipment but denied taking the gun.

“He stated he did not take it and did not know where it was located,” according to the deputy’s report. “(He said) if he did take it, he would have told (the pastor) like he did with the other items he did take.”

The most recent charge against Fajardo is Class C felony stealing, for which he could spend two to seven years in state prison, a special term of one year in county jail, and a $5,000 fine.

Associate Circuit Judge Greg Warren set Fajardo’s bond at $35,000 with surety by a bail bondsman allowed.

Just a few weeks earlier, Fajardo was charged on April 23 with receiving stolen property, a Class C felony, accusing him of stealing a Remington 870 Express shotgun last year from a man who had been out of town from Nat 12 to May 24, 2011, and came to the sheriff’s department on May 25 to report the shotgun had been stolen. A check by deputies verified that Fajardo had pawned the gun for $80 at Spur Pawn on May 20, 2011. Fajardo faces two to seven years in state prison if convicted of that felony.

That charge wasn’t filed until April 23 of this year and Fajardo pleaded innocent in a waiver of arraignment filed with the court on May 7, but Fajardo has a separate charge pending that was filed in 2011, again related to gun theft.

Waynesville police received a Dec. 14 call to the Brookview Apartments reporting an unconscious and unresponsive man who had to be revived due to a narcotics overdose. The man, later identified as Fajardo, generated another police call about two hours later reporting that he had a firearm and “possibly had his child and girlfriend … hostage.”

“We responded to the residence and made contact with Fajardo who appeared to be under the influence of a narcotic analgesic,” according to the Waynesville police report filed with the court. Police verified he had a bullet on his person but said a Toyota Camry in the parking lot with a smashed windshield belonged to his mother and he had hit a sign on the way back from Columbia.

A search of the vehicle found prescription medication whose owner said it had been taken from her without permission, along with a loaded Kel-Tec 9mm handgun whose serial number had been removed.

Fajardo’s mother was contacted and told police her son had planned to purchase a pistol. However, when his father was contacted, he told police that his Kel-Tec 9mm handgun had been stolen. The father later came to the Waynesville police department and was able to provide identification of the firearm.

“(The father) further stated his son Chad is a drug addict and was not allowed in his home and did not have permission to be there,” according to the police report.

Waynesville police requested filing of five charges, second-degree burglary, theft of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm, second offense stealing of prescription medication, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use. On Dec. 19, Pulaski County Prosecutor Kevin Hillman filed a Class C felony charge of unlawful possession of a firearm, which carries a sentence of two to seven years in state prison, noting that he “was a fugitive from justice in that he was wanted on a capias warrant” from Phelps County.

On May 14, Fajardo’s lawyer requested a change of venue to a different county from Pulaski County, which is automatically granted upon request for counties with less than 75,000 people.