BY CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer
UNION TOWNSHIP -- Two Batavia residents have been charged with breaking into more than a dozen churches this summer and stealing musical equipment and cash.
Union Township police arrested the two about 2 a.m. Thursday, shortly after a burglary was discovered at Mount Carmel Church of the Nazarene on Clough Pike. The pair's car was stopped by police at Ohio 125 (Ohio Pike) and Mount Carmel-Tobasco Road because it fit the description of a vehicle police thought was involved in a string of other church break-ins.
Arrested were Phillip West, 19, of Shayler Road and a 17-year-old boy whom police are not naming. Both have been charged with multiple counts of breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony.
Bond for Mr. West was set at $10,000, and the juvenile was released to his parents, police said.
Additional arrests are expected of other people thought to be involved in the thefts, said Sgt. Michael McMillan of Union Township police.
The two arrested, who have no police records, attended one of the burglarized churches, Sgt. McMillan said.
Union Township Officers Sean Zint and Chris Whitton arrested the two after seeing items thought stolen from the church in the back of the car, Sgt. McMillan said.
The burglaries began June 23, involving churches around Clermont County and in adjacent Anderson Township in Hamilton County. Entry usually was made through a window, Sgt. McMillan said.
Police quickly noticed the pattern and began extra patrols around churches. On two occasions, Union Township police almost caught the thieves inside the churches, Sgt. McMillan said.
"The road (officers) did a great job on this one," he said.
The stolen property included microphones, guitars, amplifiers, saxophones, a variety of musical equipment, a safe and cash. Many of the items were sold to pawn shops in Cincinnati, Columbus and Northern Kentucky. Some of the property was recovered after searches of storage lockers and the young men's vehicles and homes, police said.
The cost of property stolen in Union Township alone was about $7,000, Sgt. McMillan said.
