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4 major crime rings dismantled, authorities say

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By Jeremy P. Kelley, Staff Writer Updated 7:41 PM Tuesday, January 5, 2010

CENTERVILLE — Twenty Dayton-area residents responsible for major drug trafficking, violent robberies and home invasions, and theft on a grand scale were arrested through undercover investigations into four crime rings in the past two years, law enforcement officials said Tuesday, Jan. 5.

The arrests, 12 of which have already led to convictions, were the result of local, state and federal cooperation through the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission’s “Operation BoltCutter.”

“This task force has been the model for what we can do across jurisdictional lines,” Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said. “A serious blow has been dealt to violent crime in the Greater Dayton area and beyond.”

David Williams, director of OOCIC’s Dayton Task Force, said two of the four crime rings were violent home-invasion gangs out of Dayton and Trotwood, a third was a drug trafficking ring with a theft angle out of Miamisburg and West Carrollton, and the fourth was a Trotwood duo connected to a half-dozen pharmacy robberies.

Investigators have tied the Trotwood home invasion ring to more than 500 unsolved felonies, and have provided information on five cold-case homicides to Montgomery County prosecutors as a result.

“Studies have shown that a small percentage of the population commits a large percentage of the crimes,” said Carter Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the southern district of Ohio. “This operation went after that small percentage and was successful.”

Williams explained the four crime rings, and Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said the suspects could not have been caught without “heroic” undercover efforts by local police and federal agents.

Suburban drug/theft

Sources told local police in 2008 that Colburn “Butch” Kinzer, 63, was operating a pharmaceutical drug ring out of Miamisburg and West Carrollton, according to Williams. An undercover agent infiltrated the group and heard Kinzer brag that he also was sending several thousand pills to Kentucky weekly. Kinzer was arrested and has been sentenced to five years in federal prison on drug convictions.

Williams said authorities found a major theft ring out of the Kinzer investigation. They found more than 40 drug users in Montgomery and Warren counties who shoplifted merchandise — up to $2,000 worth a week, causing huge losses for retailers — and sold them through a series of “fences” to support their drug habits.

Money laundering and theft charges are pending in Warren County against seven people from Miamisburg, Franklin, Springboro and West Carrollton, and Williams said additional charges are expected soon.

Pharmacy robberies

Brian Campbell and Ronald Schroyer of Trotwood are accused of stealing “extremely large quantities” of Oxycontin and Vicodin from six pharmacies across Ohio in 2009, including two in Riverside, one in Sidney and one in New Carlisle, where they were caught on Aug. 8.

Williams said more than 120,000 pills were stolen, and the arrests will make an impact on the amount of pharmaceutical drugs being trafficked in the Dayton area.

Campbell has pleaded guilty to gun and drug charges and is awaiting sentencing. He also faces 11 charges connected to an auto theft ring. Schroyer’s drug case is pending in federal court.

Home invasions

Bobby Wells and John McIntire of Dayton led a group that committed drug crimes and armed home invasions in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, often raiding homes while dressed as law enforcement officers, according to Williams. A federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent infiltrated the ring and set up a fake robbery in February 2008, where SWAT teams took the group into custody. Wells, McIntire and four others have been sentenced to a total of more than 70 years in federal prison.
Reginald Brooks of Trotwood led a sophisticated gang that committed burglaries, kidnappings for ransom and armed home invasions over a span of several years in Montgomery and Greene counties, according to Williams. Like the other gang, they often simulated police raids when they stole drugs, cash and guns from drug dealers, but this group also used informants and high-tech surveillance.

Authorities have tied the group to about 500 unsolved felonies. Williams said the group injured victims in some cases and demanded ransoms from family members in others. Brooks and three others were arrested by SWAT teams in the summer of 2008 and have been sentenced to a combined 40 years on cocaine charges.

“The only way you’re ever going to reduce the amount of violent crime in our communities is taking the most violent individuals and getting them in prison,” Williams said. “These home invasion gangs are the sharks at the top of the food chain. No one wants to come forward and talk because everyone’s scared to death of them. ... But when you get them off the street, you take some of the fear factor away from the public.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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