43
Man charged with second burglary
The defendant already was on probation for burglary.
YOUNGSTOWN — A 19-year-old man convicted of burglarizing a home this past summer has been charged with again burglarizing an occupied home and may spend at least the next five years in prison.
Dwayne Sellers, 19, of E. Auburndale Avenue, appeared Wednesday before Magistrate Anthony Sertick for arraignment on charges of burglary. Sertick set bond at $75,000 and electronically monitored house-arrest. Sellers also was told not to have any contact with the Clarencedale Avenue home he is accused of burglarizing.
According to police, officers went to the Clarencedale home after a 46-year-old woman called police saying that someone was breaking into her home. Police found a spot to the rear of the home where someone, believed to be Sellers, climbed onto a chair and then climbed through a rear window.
Police said Sellers stole several items including a digital camera, Gameboy game system, PlayStation game-system games, clothes and other items. Police determined that the thief took the items and left through the back door of the home.
Police followed tracks left by the thief through the back yards of homes for several blocks, then received a call from a man who saw the thief running and was following him in a car. The man told police he lost sight of the man somewhere in the area of Rush Boulevard and Hilton Avenue.
Police caught up with Sellers and began chasing him. Sellers, reports say, got away from police, but officers were able to follow his footprints to the Auburndale home Sellers shares with his grandmother and other family members. Once at the home officers found some of the items taken in the burglary inside one of Sellers’ coats.
During the arraignment process, prosecutors told the magistrate that Sellers had pleaded guilty to burglary earlier this year.
According to court documents Sellers broke into an occupied structure in the 700 block of E. Lucius Avenue on Feb. 21. Documents from the Mahoning County Court show that Sellers was placed on two years probation, ordered to maintain employment and return to Chaney High School to obtain his high school diploma.
Judge James C. Evans, Mahoning County Court, told Sellers, at the time of his sentencing in the first burglary, that any violation of the terms of his probation could result in a five-year prison sentence with a three-year probationary period to follow the prison time.
Sellers told the court Wednesday that he has no job and is living with his grandmother, whom he hopes will pay for an attorney on his behalf. He also told the court that he is hoping to return to school after being expelled last year.
jgoodwin@vindy.com