9 charged in 2 burglary sprees in Richland County

Nine people face charges in connection with two separate burglary sprees that targeted nine churches and a dozen homes in Richland County over the past three months.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott announced the arrests of the suspects, who range in age from 15 to 20 years old, at a news conference Friday.

“Once they start on a trend like this, they’re not going to stop until they get caught,” Lott said. “The motivation is easy money.”

The first crime spree, spanning January and February in the Brookhaven subdivision in northeast Columbia, involved five suspects accused of stealing more than $76,000 in property and causing $2,700 in damages to 10 homes. A wide assortment of items were stolen, including guns, laptops, gaming systems, jewelry, clothing and alcohol. Three of the homes were hit on Feb. 7 alone.

Charged in connection with that string of burglaries are:

JaQuan Montina, 18 – four counts of burglary, four counts of larceny;

Khalil Davis, 17 – four counts of burglary, four counts of larceny;

LaRyan Young, 18 – three counts of burglary, three counts of larceny;

Deonore Easterling, 20 – obtaining goods over $2,000 under false pretenses;

And a 15-year-old juvenile.

The second string of burglaries happened in March in the Dutch Fork area, where nine churches – nearly every church in the area, Lott said – were among the victims of 12 break-ins.

“Breaking into a church, it’s amazing to me how someone thinks they can get away with that,” Lott said. “There’s a lot of people out in the community that just don’t respect religion whatsoever, and they’ll go break into a church. It tends to be that every one of those that break into a church, they get caught. It’s probably divine intervention along with good police work and good community relations that make us be able to solve these cases very quickly.”

Charged in connection with the Dutch Fork burglaries are:

Matthews Worthey, 20 – three counts of burglary, three counts of larceny, possession with intent to distribute marijuana;

Hayden Worthey, 17 – two counts of burglary, two counts of larceny;

Brett Green, 17 – burglary, attempted burglary, larceny;

Cameron Brisco, 20 – two counts of burglary, two counts of larceny.

Lott said a number of the suspects charged in connection with both crime sprees are repeat offenders with “quite lengthy records.” The solicitor’s office, he said, is working with the sheriff’s department to ensure the accused have high bonds and quick judicial processes.

“We’ve found out that it’s a small number of people who commit the majority of our crimes, and this is evidence of it right here,” Lott said.

This story was originally published April 10, 2015 at 2:18 PM with the headline "9 charged in 2 burglary sprees in Richland County."