Teens charged with north end break-ins
By Lee Williams
Published in News on September 29, 2006 1:55 PM
Five teens were arrested Wednesday in connection with a crime spree that started at Norwayne Middle School and ended at Stoney Creek Church.
Rocky Scott Seymour, 18, of Jordan's Bluff, Pikeville; Justin Ingram, 18, of Mount Carmel Church Road, Pikeville; Christopher Allen Michaels, 16, of Harley Trail; Corey Mackenzie Sexton, 18, of Park Ridge Road; and a 15-year-old male face several charges including breaking and entering and larceny from a place of worship in connection with the crime spree. Other charges for breaking into several school buses at Norwayne Middle School are still pending, officials said.
According to Wayne County sheriff's reports, a resident flagged down Deputy Gary Nance and told him he spotted a suspicious vehicle behind Stoney Creek Church about 3 a.m. Nance inspected the church and discovered the suspects allegedly broke a window on an outside building and pried the door open.
The alert resident gave Nance the license plate number and a description of the vehicle.
"Deputies got the address and waited for the vehicle to return," officials said. "When the vehicle returned to the location, deputies stopped the vehicle."
Deputies allegedly found crime evidence and a person matching the description of one of the people spotted at the church inside the vehicle. That person was identified as Seymour, officials said. Information obtained led to the arrest of four more suspects, officials said.
Officials also discovered the teens allegedly stole a vending machine, valued at $400; snacks, valued at $30; and $27 in cash from the church. But that wasn't all, officials said.
"During the course of this investigation, our officers discovered these males broke into numerous school buses at Norwayne Middle School," Wayne County sheriff's spokesman Capt. George Raecher said.
Officials also discovered the teens allegedly swiped a ceramic cobra, the school's mascot, from Norwayne Middle School.
"It has been recovered from one of defendant's homes," Raecher said.
The teens are awaiting their day in court, however, the 15-year-old male, who is considered a juvenile in the eyes of the law, will be sent to a juvenile detention center for his involvement in the crimes, officials said.
Wednesday's arrests come on the heels of the arrests of four other men who were charged last week in connection with a spate of car break-ins in the Patetown and Nahunta areas.
"We have no direct correlation between that group and this group," Raecher said. "All nine people are being looked at for other crimes that have occurred in the northern end of the county."
While Wednesday's arrests could help curb break-ins, Raecher asked residents to do more to protect their property from thieves.
"People need to understand that it's important to lock their cars and trucks up at night to prevent crimes like these," Raecher said. "The nine people we've arrested don't have respect for anybody's property. They do not respect the citizens' privacy."
Detective Sgts. Mike Kabler, Carl Lancaster, Shawn Harris and Detective Richard Winders are investigating the case. Raecher lauded his detectives for the work that led to nine arrests this week.
"I'm proud of this division," Raecher said Wednesday. "We've locked up nine people for property crimes in the last five days, and that's a lot of hard work from the detectives."
Wayne County Sheriff Carey Winders said he hoped the arrests will make an impact in the county.
"We've had a substantial number of break-ins on the north end," Winders said. "Hopefully, this will clear that up."