Warren man gets 10 months added to prison term for Trumbull break-ins

Staff report

WARREN

Brandon M. Welz, 30, of South Street, got another 10 months added to his prison sentence this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court for breaking into four bars or golf-course clubhouses one year ago.

Welz already is serving two years in prison for one count of breaking and entering and one of safecracking for crimes he committed in Lake County.

Judge Ronald Rice sentenced Welz to the additional time for breaking into the Hole In The Wall Tavern on state Route 88 in Mecca Township on May 2, 2015; Duck Creek Golf Course on Newton Tomlinson Road in Newton Falls on May 7; Quiggleys Bar on Parkman Road in Warren Township on May 14; and Tamer Win Golf Course on Niles-Cortland Road in Bazetta Township on May 17.

Welz has been ordered to pay restitution of $9,914 to the owners of the businesses, including $9,300 to the Hole In The Wall, $500 to Tamer Win and $114 to Duck Creek.

The Trumbull County charges and the Lake County charges were part of an investigation headed by Detective Jolene Marcello of the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office after Marcello discovered similarities in break-ins being carried out in many of the counties to the north and west.

The break-ins all were occurring at bars and golf-course clubhouses. Surveillance videos showed someone “belly crawling” across the floor of the business while dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, mask and backpack and stealing cash.