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BARNESVILLE -- Police have identified two suspects in a series of break-ins and thefts from cars locally and in other states.
Barnesville Police Chief Rocky Sirianni gave an update Thursday.
"As of now, there haven't been any physical arrests because we don't have a location for these people," he said, adding that his department worked with Byesville police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Intelligence Center to identify two of the suspects.
"Between us and other agencies we had enough information to put charges on at least two of the people that we have identified," he said. "At some point they'll have warrants for their arrest, and if they have interaction with law enforcement, then that's when they'll be arrested and taken to jail and they'll have their day in court."
He believes they may have been active in the local area earlier in the summer.
"We had an incident at the end of May, May 30, where someone's vehicle got broken into at a park and a purse was taken," he said. "The credit cards belonging to that person, they were attempted to be used at the Walmart in St. Clairsville, and we had good video footage from Walmart and the same male that was involved that we identified, he was on video on the May 30 incident at Walmart, as well as the more recent incident that we had."
The second incident of a break-in and theft occurred June 22 and appears to involve the same group of people. At least two were identified as being involved in both.
"We know that they're related, and it's the same group of people," he said, adding that other incidents occurred in St. Clairsville. "It's been all over our coverage area anyways, and some of the checks that were stolen were actually used in a bank at Athens, Ohio. It's not really localized. It seems like they are taking advantage anywhere that they get the opportunity. It's something I believe they think out and plan, how they're going to travel, what route they're going to take and where they're going to hit, based on their travels."
He said the charges so far would be theft and property offenses such as criminal damaging. There are various statutes covering theft and separate charges for receiving stolen property and attempting to use stolen property such as checks and credit cards.
"When they try to use the stuff, they're committing more offenses," he said. "In some of the offenses they've had the victim's identification card, so they would try to use the victim's ID card to cash a check."
Sirianni said the two who have been identified are Brittany Wilson, 33, and Devonte St. Louis, 30. He said both are residents of Florida. There is one or possibly two others who have not been identified. Both are men who appear to be in their 30s.
The most recent vehicle they were identified in was a 2019 red GMC Canyon, originally a rental vehicle but one they may have since stolen. Sirianni said they have been using two different license plates: a Tennessee plate reading 13998CP, and a possibly stolen Ohio plate reading HKA3400.
Sirianni did not speculate on possible locations of the suspects.
"We've had footage of them and information from other agencies as far away as Texas. There was one of the guys involved committed a very similar crime using the same pickup truck that we had," he said. "Later that day or the following day, they were back in the Ohio area, so it looks to me like it's an operation that this group of people have been doing for some time, and they'll just travel across the state and as they pass through certain areas and commit these types of crimes. It's not really just a county or state issue, it's two or three different states that we've seen now."
He said different state agencies are involved as they share information, but no federal agencies are involved.
"It's been a lot of teamwork and we're making a lot of headway," he said. "Hopefully in the near future we'll be able to put charges sooner rather than later."
Additional pictures of the suspects can be found on the Barnesville Police Department's Facebook page.