Saturday, February 14, 2009
Police have recovered items that were stolen in Trumbull, Mahoning and Portage counties.
STAFF report
LORDSTOWN — A Newton Falls man and Garrettsville man are charged with aggravated burglary in the break-in at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 27 at a home on Palmyra Road in Lordstown. The homeowner came home while the thieves were inside.
Detective Chris Bordonaro of the Lordstown Police Department said the two men are part of a larger burglary ring that took items such as lawn mowers from locations in Trumbull, Mahoning and Portage counties.
Bordonaro said he expects additional charges to be filed against the two men and others.
Timothy J. Shearer, 29, of North Bradfield Street, Garrettsville, appeared in Newton Falls Municipal Court on Thursday. He entered no plea to the felony charge, and bond was set at $100,000.
Jerry L. Lough, 30, of Newton Drive, Newton Falls, appeared for an initial hearing at the court Jan. 29 on the same charge, plus receiving stolen property. He also didn’t enter a plea, and his bond was also set at $100,000.
If convicted, each man could spend up to 10 years in prison. Both are set to return to Newton Falls Municipal Court at 10 a.m. Feb. 24.
Bordonaro said Shearer and Lough were not captured at the scene of the Palmyra Road break-in, but the homeowner did see the men, struggled with them and saw their Ford Ranger pickup truck in his driveway. The men were not able to steal anything from the home.
The homeowner was assaulted during the confrontation, but he suffered only minor injuries, Bordonaro said.
Lough turned himself in at Newton Falls Municipal Court after a warrant was issued for his arrest, and Shearer was later picked up in a vehicle near Aurora, Ohio.
Bordonaro said there has been a rash of burglaries in the area in recent months, including two in Lordstown, two in Newton Township and one in Warren Township.
The Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department has investigated the two break-ins in Newton Township, Bordonaro said.
During the investigation, police have recovered property that they believe was taken from locations in Trumbull, Mahoning and Portage counties, Bordonaro said.
A zero-turn lawnmower, for instance, was recovered that had been taken from a residence in North Jackson, he said.