Police: Man caught on camera burglarizing historic saloon

YAVAPAI COUNTY, Ariz. (KSAZ) - A man was arrested after police say he was caught on video burglarizing a historic saloon in Yavapai County.

The surveillance video shows the suspect pouring himself a soda and one camera even captures his expression right as he discovers the whole thing is being captured on video.

"To have somebody come in and at will just randomly do that kind of destruction is very frustrating," said Doug White, owner of the Crown King Saloon.

A view from outside the saloon at about 3 a.m. on Monday morning shows the moment the suspect kicks in the door to the saloon. The owners say he spent about two-and-a-half hours inside the building and at one point he even put a beer bucket on his head.

Eventually, the suspect discovers where money is kept and he takes it. He also kicked in the doors to some of the rooms upstairs.

"Those doors are at least 110 years old," White said. "It is a historic building. To try to replace that hardware and maintain the look and the character of the building is going to be difficult."

According to the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office, the suspect is 34-year-old Sean Sparling, who's also accused of going into two cabins at a neighboring business and demanding phones from the people inside. They say he also threatened to kill the victims.

The owners of the saloon say the suspect had been in the business recently.

"I was warned by the bartender that she was concerned about his behavior, so we were kind of trying to keep an eye out," White said.

Sparling has been arrested and booked into jail.