Wren man arrested on burglary counts

Van Wert County Sheriff’s Dept. news

A Wren man is incarcerated after he was identified as being a suspect in two rural county break-ins.

Joshua Cole, 24, is being held in the Van Wert County Correctional Facility on a $50,000 cash bond on charges of tampering with evidence, a felony of the third degree.

On Wednesday, sheriff’s deputies began investigating burglaries in Willshire and York townships, and determined from information received that one person may have committed both burglaries. It was also determined that the Cole, the suspect, also may have been involved in a hit-skip accident earlier Wednesday.

The Van Wert Police Department later called the sheriff’s department to report that it had received a call that two people in a white sports utility vehicle were seen breaking into a local business and were removing items from a vehicle that was involved in the earlier hit-skip accident.

A description of the white SUV and the two suspects was sent out to area law enforcement agencies and the Convoy Police Department later reported it had located a white SUV matching that description.

Deputies were sent to Convoy and searched the vehicle, where they found items taken from both the Willshire and York township burglaries.

Sheriff Tom Riggenbach said that an investigation into the incidents is continuing, and more charges could be filed in the case. The sheriff’s department was assisted by the Van Wert and Convoy police departments and the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.