8 charged in cellphone store break-ins

Dayton rings worked in multiple states, investigators allege.

Eight area people face more than 100 charges in at least 61 cellphone store break-ins, the Ohio Attorney General’s office announced Monday.

The thefts at stores in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky were the work of two separate but related groups from Dayton, investigators said. Six adults and two juveniles face felony charges in the "smash and grab" crimes that occurred between April, 2012, and January, 2014, according to prosecutors.

“These individuals are all from the Dayton area, but they committed crimes all over Ohio, as well as across state lines,” said Attorney General Mike DeWine. “Those with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Columbus Police Department and Dayton Police Department worked to connect the dots that tied these crimes together.”

The individuals charged include:

  • Lamar Caviness, 18, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (2 counts); conspiracy to engage in a pattern of corrupt activity, breaking and entering (14); theft (5); grand theft (8); money laundering.
  • Gary Pullen, 34, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (2), conspiracy to engage in a pattern of corrupt activity; breaking and entering (9); theft (4); grand theft (4); money laundering.
  • Antone Jackson, 18, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (2); conspiracy to engage in a pattern of corrupt activity; breaking and entering (15); theft (7); grand theft (4); money laundering.
  • Duane Taylor, 20, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (2), conspiracy to engage in a pattern of corrupt activity; breaking and entering (5); theft (2); grand theft, money laundering.
  • Michael Roberson, 19, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (2), conspiracy to engage in a pattern of corrupt activity, breaking and entering (3), grand theft (3).
  • Kevin Snowden, 18, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activities (2), conspiracy to engage in a pattern of corrupt activities, breaking and entering (4), grand theft (3).

The groups typically targeted Verizon Wireless stores and are suspected of stealing more than $300,000 in electronics, including iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices. They then sold the devices.

Caviness, Jackson, Taylor, Roberson, Snowden and Pullen are in custody.

The cases will be prosecuted in conjunction with the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office and Greene County Prosecutor’s Office.

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