Man is suspect in at least 16 burglaries

June 1, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene said Ralph Goad’s heroin habit is estimated to be between $300 to $400 a day.

Goad, arrested Thursday after trying to break into an Austintown bar, is a suspect in at least 16 burglaries to help fuel that habit. Greene said he thinks people can be rehabilitated after trying to kick a drug habit but someone like Goad, who has been to prison several times, is probably the exception to that rule.

“Treatment isn’t going to fix this individual at all,” Greene said.

Goad is in the Mahoning County jail after he was spotted trying to break into Sam’s Wedge Inn at Raccoon and New roads early Thursday. He was caught while trying to get away, and he matched the description of someone who has is a suspect in several other burglaries. Greene said police in several jurisdictions were looking for someone who was bald, used a cane and drove a red Aveo, and Goad matched all of those.

He is suspected in burglaries in Beaver, Canfield, Goshen, Springfield and Austintown dating back to February. Greene and other investigators on the case, including sheriff’s Maj. Jeff Allen and detective Pat Mondora, Beaver Police Detective Eric Dattilo and Austintown police Detective Sgt. Shawn Hevener, said that cooperation among agencies and sharing information were key in catching Goad.

Allen said detectives from across the area meet at least once a month, and they are usually joined by an analyst from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation. He said the ability to share information on open cases and the technology to get that information out quickly was key in realizing that Goad was wanted by other departments.

Dattilo said one of the keys was that Goad was a suspect in Columbiana County on Tuesday and that information was relayed to him Wednesday, the same day someone tried to break into a Market Street business. He said he had video from that incident and was able to forward that to other departments, so when Goad was taken into custody by Austintown, they were able to focus on him quickly.

“The passing of information from Columbiana County to us to everyone else made sure we were able to secure this pretty quickly,” Dattilo said.

Hevener gave credit to the patrol officer who was able to catch Goad in Austintown. He said the officer was driving with the windows of his cruiser open and was able to hear glass shatter, which led him to investigate and find Goad.

Hevener said he was able to link Goad to other crimes through an email sent by the BCI analyst who attends the detective meetings, so he was able to let the other departments know Austintown may have had their suspect.

“I don’t know if we would’ve been able to put it together,” Hevener said. “It happened that fast.” In Austintown, Goad is accused of breaking into three bars, while in Beaver, two of the five break-ins there are businesses, although one of the businesses was victimized twice. Allen said when Goad was burglarizing homes, he would knock on the door and if no one answered, he would break in through a window or kicking in a door. He took items such as guns and jewelry he could sell right away to get money for heroin, Allen said.

Allen said Goad was just released from prison at the end of last year and has been in prison several times.