Suspect in Miami student burglaries tells police, ‘That’s basically exactly what happened’

Credit: Submitted

Credit: Submitted

An early-morning pursuit by Oxford police led to the arrest of three suspects accused of burglarizing student housing while students were off campus, according to a police report.

An officer on patrol at 1:31 a.m. Sunday saw three suspicious males outside a residence on Willow Lane and drove through an alley to observe them. As he drove onto Willow Lane, their vehicle left the scene, setting off a pursuit in which the driver of the brown SUV ignored the stop sign at North Campus Avenue and proceeded on East Vine, University the wrong way on a one-way street and on to Church Street, running stop signs and ignoring the officer’s lights and order to stop.

The pursuit continued on to Tallawanda Road and East High Street, at one point passing another motorist who was in the turn lane and failing to stop for a red light. The SUV continued to Patterson Avenue and Oxford-Trenton Road, where it reached speeds in excess of 95 mph. It finally pulled over at the intersection of Shollenbarger Road.

The three occupants were ordered out at gunpoint.

The driver was confirmed as having a suspended driver’s license, while a second suspect has no license, and a third suspect has a suspended license and warrant for his arrest out of Middletown.

Officers clearing the vehicle found multiple items reported as stolen Jan. 18.

Items found on the driver’s person were a silver ring with a pearl in the center, a silver ring with diamonds on one side, a bronze ring with diamonds on all sides, a GE folding flashlight, a multi-use flashlight/pen/window punch/cutter, 66 cents in change and a sealed bag of “Wonderful” pistachios.

Found on the third suspect’s person were an iPhone with broken case, an I AM Miami magnet and $2.82 in change.

Found on the second suspect’s person were a set of headphones with iPhone attachment, a set of iPhone headphones, seven Mentos mints, a Blow Pop sucker, four sealed bags of Grandma’s Mini Sandwich Cremes, an opened bag of Jolly Ranchers, a pair of broken glasses, a pair of Rayban sunglasses, a Day of the Dead bracelet, $3 in $1 bills and a bottle of Suave Almond Shea Butter shampoo.

The three were taken to the Oxford Police Department while officers did an inventory of the SUV which included a laptop suspected of having been taken in a burglary. Miami University dispatch confirmed it belonged to a resident in the 100 block of East Vine Street. A visit there revealed a broken window at the rear of the residence and the interior had been rifled through.

The three were questioned and while the driver claimed the evening was “foggy,” he said he was not sure if there were more than two houses broken into. He said he had picked up the other two to ride around and he had never dropped them off at any time that night. Asked if he knew what was going on he replied, “Yeah.”

The third suspect refused to talk about the evening.

The second suspect allegedly admitted breaking into two houses, saying he did not know anything about any others.

The driver was brought back for more questioning and was told they were suspected of coming to Oxford to break into houses since most of the students were gone, to which he reportedly replied, “That’s basically exactly what happened.”

All three were charged with burglary with the driver charged with additional traffic offenses of failure to comply, driving under suspension, four citations for stop sign violations, a one-way street violation, a red light violation, driving under suspension, overtaking and passing of vehicles and operation in willful or wanton disregard for safety of persons or property.

They were taken to the Butler County Jail.

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