Almost $5,500 dollars stolen from the Wentzville VFW hall last week has been recovered from the man suspected of the robbery. But police and VFW officials say he made a big mess of things.

Police caught Shawn Mollet after he allegedly returned to the hall and threw a Molotov cocktail through the window – while police were inside the building. Damage to the building was minor. But a VFW spokesman says Mollet damaged the hall’s septic system when he first broke into the building when he thought he was disconnecting the security system. Actually, his efforts triggered the security system but damaged the septic system.

Although the money has been recovered, the safe it was in has not been found.