2 suspects charged with county burglary

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Two people are in custody in connection with a residential burglary that took place in Pleasant Township three days ago — and the pair may have committed several other area burglaries.

Daniel A. Burke, 38, of Reynoldsburg, is being held on one count of burglary, a second-degree felony offense, while Savannah M. Williams, 26, of Mendon, is charged with one count of complicity to commit burglary, also a felony of the second degree.

Both were apprehended after the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office received a call late Friday morning that a woman matching the female suspect’s description in the Pleasant Township burglary had come into a local business, while a pickup truck parked outside the business also matched the description of a vehicle involved in what is reportedly a series of rural burglaries committed in the area.

Deputies were dispatched to the area, while the Van Wert Police Department was also asked to respond. The woman and vehicle had both left the business by the time officers arrived on the scene; however, officers interviewed those at the business to obtain more information, which was then broadcast to other units searching for the vehicle.

A VWPD officer then located the vehicle at a business on the southwest side of the city and was able to stop the pickup at Pak-A-Sak service station on South Shannon Street.

Three people were in the vehicle at the time it was stopped and  all were initially taken to the sheriff’s office, where they were interviewed in connection with the Pleasant Township burglary. Information received during the interviews then led to charges being filed against Burke and Williams.

Both are being held in the Van Wert County Correctional Facility until their initial appearance in Van Wert Municipal Court, likely early next week. The third person was released without being charged.

Sheriff Riggenbach added that the investigation continues, with additional charges possible, and also thanked the public for its help and the numerous tips that were called in that assisted the investigation.

Sheriff Riggenbach’s office is also working with sheriffs in Hardin, Mercer and Auglaize counties in connection with similar burglaries committed in those counties.

According to county detectives investigating the Pleasant Township burglary, a resident of the home was working outside and a woman matching Williams’ description introduced herself as a power company employee and talked about utility line work that needed done at the residence. She kept the resident distracted long enough for a man matching Burke’s description to enter the residence, steal money and other valuables and return to the pickup truck.

Similar burglaries have been reported in Mercer and Hardin counties, and possibly may have occurred in other area counties.