A Columbia man was arrested Wednesday after breaking into the Boone County Fairgrounds Coliseum and attempting to burglarize the MFA Incorporated Trade Show.

An off-duty deputy providing overnight security heard suspicious noises coming from an exterior door around 2:35 a.m. No source was initially located, according to a news release.

The deputy apprehended Steven Babcock Jr. inside the dimly lit building about an hour later. He was clothed in camouflage from head to toe and had a pair of metal shears in his possession.

Babcock’s vehicle was discovered in the parking lot of a nearby building, according to a news release.

“He illegally entered the building,” Boone County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Tom O’Sullivan said. “The reasonable person would conclude that stealing was his intent. There was a trade show going on. There were quite a number of items of value in the building worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.”

The building contained valuable merchandise, personal property, tools and farm equipment.

Babcock was charged with burglary and possession of burglar’s tools. His bond has not yet been set.

No suspects have been arrested in a second, unrelated theft.

An investigation of a stolen cigarette boat and trailer reported Jan. 14 in the 8300 block of Interstate 70 Drive Southeast is also still underway.

The red, white and gray 1985 Chris Craft Stinger 312, named “Guilty as Sin,” was last seen on a white triple axle trailer, according to a news release.

The items, valued at $26,000, might have been stolen by a suspect driving an early 1990s white Chevrolet dual-rear-wheel pickup truck with a black steel flatbed, according to a news release.

No arrests have been made for that theft.