Two men might also be culprits in other burglaries in Ross and Highland counties
Two men have been arrested by Fayette County Sheriff deputies for thefts from two homes in southern Fayette County Friday, and they could be suspects in other cases in other counties.
23-year-old Brandon C. Stodgel of Lower Twin Road in South Salem was arrested along with 29-year-old Matthew G. Newman of Grand Avenue in Sabina. Both are charged with two counts of Burglary, 2 counts of Theft, Safecracking, Having Weapons Under Disability, Tampering with Evidence and Receiving Stolen Property.
The men were apprehended as deputies were searching for a vehicle that had been reported stolen out of Highland County.
Fayette deputies spotted the suspect vehicle on Ghormley Road, where the vehicle tried to speed away, and crashed after failing to negotiate a curve and drove into a ditch. Deputies found items reported stolen from a residence on Snow Hill Road. Deputies later also recovered a safe that had been stolen and dumped into a ditch.
Fayette County Sheriff Vernon Stanforth reports that the apprehension of Stodgel and Newman came one week following a multi-jurisdictional meeting, in which law enforcement officers from Fayette, Highland and Ross counties shared information and a meeting about recent burglaries in Greenfield, northern Highland County, southern Fayette County and western Ross County.
