Police use shoe to identify alleged apartment burglary suspect in Emporia

EMPORIA (KSNT) - The police investigation of a violent apartment burglary allegedly involving a local football player included the use of a shoe as a key piece of evidence during their investigation.

KSNT 27 News obtained court documents from the Lyon County District Court of the apartment burglary which reportedly occurred in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 30. Police arrested 19-year-old Michael Hourel, a local football player with Emporia State University (ESU), following the report.

Officers with the Emporia Police Department (EPD) were called to an apartment located in the 1800 block of Merchant Street to a report of a burglary in progress. Police received a 911 call from a resident claiming she found an unknown man in her living room.

The woman told police she woke up to make some food for her child when she noticed a light in the living room that appeared to be coming from a cell phone behind her couch, according to court documents. She said a man wearing a mask was crouched down behind the furniture and, upon being discovered, allegedly pushed the woman against a wall and covered her mouth to stop her from screaming. The resident was still able to scream and her husband chased the suspect out of the apartment.

The apartment residents gave police a description of the suspect. Police recovered a single shoe in the hallway near the apartment and security camera footage.

An apartment manager told police video showed a man wearing one shoe running down a stairwell shortly after the 911 call was made, according to court documents. She told police she believed the suspect to be Hourel who also lived in the apartment.

Police showed the surveillance video to the alleged victim and she identified Hourel as the running man, according to court documents.

Hourel was in the building when police arrived and opened the door for them. An officer noticed he was sweating but wearing different clothing from what the alleged victims described. Police asked him about his recent whereabouts during the incident, according to the court documents. Police said he told officers he did not enter anyone's apartment and was only in the lower level of the building to grab a drink and play a game of hockey.

Officers showed Hourel the recovered shoe. He told them he owned a pair of shoes like that and the other shoe was in a friend's vehicle. An officer searched Hourel's closet a short time later and found a shoe matching the one recovered in the hallway.

Hourel then told officers he was drunk and thought he was in his apartment but was mistaken. He claimed the door to the apartment he entered was unlocked and that he did not put his hands on anyone. Police noted the victim's apartment is identical in its layout to Hourel's.

Police arrested Hourel after this statement, recovered his clothing as evidence and conducted a preliminary alcohol breath test which came back as 0.068. They transported him to the Lyon County Jail without incident.

The EPD returned to interview the alleged burglary victims again who said there were signs of forced entry to their apartment. The the alleged victim said "she was afraid for her life" during the encounter as she did not recognize the person in her living room, according to the court documents.

Hourel told law enforcement in a follow-up interview at the jail he returned to Emporia from Kansas City after being dropped off by a friend at 4 a.m. on June 30. He said then went to his room where he realized he forgot his wallet and called his friend. He said went downstairs to retrieve his wallet and, afterwards, entered the wrong apartment. He said he was lying on the floor when a woman started yelling at him and restated that he never laid his hands on anyone.

Hourel was arrested on allegations of aggravated burglary and aggravated assault. 27 News learned on July 2 he was suspended indefinitely from ESU's football team following his arrest. Hourel is not currently confined in the Lyon County Jail at the time of this report.

The EPD is continuing to collect information on this case. If you want to share tips with the EPD, call 620-343-4225. You can also send anonymous tips to Lyon County Crime Stoppers by calling 620-342-2273.

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