A 45-year-old man faces charges in connection with a series of church burglaries in Kershaw County.

Royce Thomas Sutton was arrested Sept. 19 on warrrants charging him with seven counts of burglary and three counts of obtaining money by false pretenses, Sheriff Jim Matthews announced Tuesday. Lancaster County deputies detained the suspect during a traffic stop, after being alerted by Kershaw County authorities of their search for him.

Sutton , who is from Montana, was passing through the area on his way to Florida, Matthews said. During the month of September, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department accuses Sutton of burglarizing Dekalb Baptist Church twice, Buffalo Baptist Church, Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church as well as two businesses in Kershaw County, taking electronics and other items.

Kershaw County investigators received information about a possible suspect from one of the church pastors.

Sutton was taken to the Kershaw County Detention Center, where he remains on a $266,000 bond.

From Staff Reports