DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — Rod Vangas hopes he's seen the last of the burglaries at his business, Charlie's Import Foods.

Since last spring, Vangas said he believes one man is responsible for breaking into his store in the 400 block of Troy Street and stealing hundreds of dollars worth of cigarettes, lighters, cigars and rolling papers.

That man is 23-year-old Christopher D. Mills of Dayton, who these days is in the Montgomery County Jail.

According to police reports, the food and sandwich market in Old North Dayton has been burglarized for its cigarettes — Newports, Marlboros, Basic, Kentucky's best, whatever the thief can grab, Vangas said — four times this year.

"I just don't know what to do anymore," Vangas said. "Every time he gets out, he breaks into my store. And they let him go over and over," he said of Mills.

Police arrested Mills on Jan. 7 after patrol officers tracked footprints in the snow back to an alley on Chapel Street near the market. There, they found Mills with a plastic bag of rolling papers, lighters, packs of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars.

He's charged with burglary, breaking and entering, and possessing criminal tools, according to court record.

Police said Mills told them that drug dealers and "crack heads" sold him the merchandise.

One witness, Linville Jenkins, told investigators that Mills always breaks into Charlie's and asks Jenkins to help him sell the cigarettes and tobacco products.

On Tuesday, Feb. 5, while Mills was free in lieu of a $7,500 cash bond, he was arrested on charges of breaking and entering and possessing criminal tools. Neighbors pointed police to Mills, who was accused of trying to break into the store by throwing a slab of concrete at its storefront window.

Police found Mills bicycling back to Charlie's with bolt cutters when the concrete didn't break the window.

Court records do not indicate who posted the bond that led to Mills' release.

Dayton Police Department's First District Commander Lt. Mark Varvel said that charges were not strong enough to keep Mills in jail for the January incident, but the added charges from the Feb. 5 incident were enough to keep him incarcerated.

A Montgomery County grand jury apparently agreed, and indicted Mills on Wednesday, Feb. 13, for the January and February incidents.

Vangas said police suggested he put bars over his window. While Vangas said he spends almost $1,000 every time his business is burglarized, putting bars on the window would ruin the aesthetic in a neighborhood that is otherwise pleasant.

Varvel said that first district officers talked to Vangas about stepping up patrols around his business after the first couple of break-ins. Varvel said his and other police districts try to develop strategies such as assigning plain clothes officers when they notice repeat crimes.

Varvel credited neighbors and business leaders in the neighborhood for keeping an eye out for each others' properties.

"In the short time I've been in the First District, I've noticed the community and business leaders out here have developed a pretty successful neighborhood watch program for lack of a better term," Varvel said. "We encourage them to work with us to be our eyes and ears."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2263 or rfox@DaytonDailyNews.com.