Man found with stolen handgun charged with multiple Middletown burglaries of firearms

An observant citizen helped Middletown police nab a daytime burglary suspect this week.

Police charged Wesley Alan Risner, 35, of 233 N. Marshall Road, with four counts of burglary.

Police said there have been several burglaries in the area of Manchester and North Marshall roads. On Monday, a concerned citizen called police about 9:45 a.m. to report a suspicious person on Rosedale Road who appeared to be concealing a rifle.

Officers responded to the scene and found Risner was concealing a BB gun. He also had a loaded handgun in his backpack. Police said Risner had a 2005 robbery conviction and burglary convictions from 2009 and 2015, and he should not have been carrying a weapon. Risner was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and having weapons under disability.

Detectives had been investigating several burglaries and found that the weapon Risner was carrying had just been stolen during a burglary. Risner was interviewed and confessed to four recent burglaries and turned over two more guns that he had taken. Detectives are continuing to investigate where other stolen items may have gone, police said.

Risner appeared in Middletown Municipal Court on Tuesday and entered a not guilty plea and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Judge James Sherron bound over Risner’s cases to a Butler County grand jury. Risner is being held in the Butler County Jail under a $15,000 bond for each charge, according to jail records.

Anyone with additional information is urged to contact detective Brook McDonald at 513-425-7745.

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