Sallisaw Man Fails to Appear in Court

A bench warrant was issued July 2 for a Sallisaw man who failed to appear in court July 1 to answer to four charges of third-degree burglary.

Zyan Neal Haneberg, 19, faces up to five years in prison on each charge. His bond was set at $62,000.

On June 7, a pair of Sallisaw police officers were dispatched to South Elizabeth Lane, where the reporting party, Phyllis Hust, had reported that someone in a white or silver car with its lights off was trying to get into people’s vehicles. 

When the officers arrived at the scene, they spotted a small car matching the woman’s description parked in the driveway of the last residence on South Elizabeth. The officers pulled into the driveway, blocking the car.

As they pulled up, an officer heard something hit the ground beside the car, which they believed the driver, Haneberg, had thrown out the window.

Haneberg said he was trying to find his girlfriend who lived in a motel and that he had gotten lost. The officers detected the strong smell of marijuana coming from inside the car.

When asked what he threw out the car’s window, Haneberg admitted it was a loaded semiautomatic handgun. He also admitted that he had broken into “not over three” cars and that he had only broken into cars in the neighborhood that he was currently in. Haneberg said he wasn’t sure where he had stolen the gun from, but he noted that if officers drove him around he could probably show them where he got it.

Haneberg was arrested and placed in a patrol car while the officers took photos of the stolen items, which included a woman’s purse and two pill bottles for different people. In the passenger’s seat, officers found a black bag with multiple containers of a green, leafy substance, two containers of brown wax, scales, baggies and an unlabeled pill bottle. Inside the pill bottle were four white pills labeled “XANAX” and 21 white pills that were labeled “K25.”

The purse contained $39 in cash and multiple IDs, bank cards and other documents, along with three sets of car keys. Officers also found a Yeti cooler and other items that had been reported as stolen.

Haneberg was transported to the Sallisaw Police Department and officers contacted the burglary victims and returned some of the stolen items.

The officers later learned Haneberg was also a suspect in multiple car burglaries on the previous night.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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