Sheriff’s Office Shuts Down Vehicle Burglary Ring
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Reminds Citizens Not to Leave Valuables in Automobiles
Thirteen victims suffered losses totaling $20,000 when their vehicles were broken into over a three to four night period earlier this month throughout the central Kaufman County area. Perhaps suspecting an organized ring of thieves, the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office immediately launched an investigation, which was led by Sgt. Richard Widener.
The Sheriff’s Office announced the conclusion of this two week investigation earlier this week, which resulted in the arrest of six individuals on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity. Those arrested include Jason Byrne, 26; Michael Forney, 17; Casey Lumpkin, 17; Justin Elrod, 17; Johnny Hinton Jr., 17 and Michaelynn Schwed, 24. Byrne, Forney, Lumpkin and Schwed were connected to all 13 burglaries and are currently still in custody on a $40,000 bond. Investigators could only link Elrod and Hinton to one burglary and both have been released after posting a $5,000 bond.
Sgt. Widener stated that he would like to remind the public to not leave valuables in their car and always lock their car doors.
In addition to keeping valuables in a safe place and not your car, as well as locking your car doors, the importance of marking or engraving your valuables with an identifying number such as your driver’s license as well as recording the serial numbers of every valuable you own cannot be stressed enough - in this case, initial leads came after one of the suspects began pawning items at a pawn shop in Terrell. The easier it is to identify your stolen property, the easier it is to recover it - in one case, a Kaufman County homeowner was reunited with a stolen firearm over a decade after the theft occurred, when the firearm was recovered by law enforcement officers in another state and the serial number matched the stolen property report filed by the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office.
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