By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer

OXFORD - Authorities accuse a 25-year-old man of burglarizing nine homes, shooting a dog, scuffling with a homeowner and endangering his girlfriend's two young children by taking them with him to a break-in at an Oxford Township home.

Christopher Ondrovich of Oxford Township is to appear in Butler County Area I Court today. He faces multiple counts of aggravated burglary, burglary, felonious assault, child endangering, aggravated trespassing and vandalism.

He was arrested last week, thanks to an observant homeowner and cooperation of area police agencies, said Butler County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Craft.

Since late May, homeowners in Oxford, Hanover, Wayne and Milford townships had been reporting burglaries in which homes were ransacked and mostly guns and cash were taken, Craft said. He said some of the homes sustained considerable damage.

Then the situation got worse.

"When we first found out about the dog being shot on Shollenbarger Road (Milford Township) on June 25, that took it to another level," Craft said. The sheriff's office enlisted help from surrounding law enforcement agencies.

"There's no question this whole situation was a disaster in the making," Craft said.

Then last Thursday evening, police got lucky. A Riggs Road homeowner confronted a burglar who shoved him through some glass doors and fled in a vehicle. The homeowner called 911, and an Oxford city officer stopped the suspect.

Ondrovich was arrested. His girlfriend's children, ages 6 and 7, were asleep in the vehicle's back seat, said Oxford Township Police Chief Preston Schrock.