ELYRIA — Two men believed to be responsible for a string of break-ins in several townships have been indicted.
Chad Blackburn
Chad Blackburn, 28, of Lorain, and Shannon Matheny, 25, of Elyria, each face charges of burglary, theft, safecracking and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
The pair was arrested Dec. 2 after a neighbor spotted them breaking into an Oberlin Road home in New Russia Township and alerted Lorain County sheriff’s deputies, although the indictment this week doesn’t include that incident.
According to an affidavit seeking a search warrant to obtain a sample of Matheny’s DNA, the pair was driving away from the scene in a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt that matched the description of a vehicle used in previous area break-ins.
The Cobalt didn’t initially pull over, but finally stopped when other vehicles on Oberlin Road stopped. Matheny, the driver, was ordered to turn off the engine and throw the keys out the window.
Shannon Matheny
Matheny later admitted to breaking into the house along with Blackburn and said that he was “dope sick” when they first pulled into the driveway.
Deputies found jewelry valued at more than $9,000 in the Cobalt, as well as video game systems, a car amplifier, a fire safe, a water cooler jug filled with loose change and other items that were traced back to the burglary.
Detective Jason Smith said Matheny and Blackburn have been tied to seven break-ins in LaGrange, Carlisle, Pittsfield and New Russia townships and are facing charges in a separate case for the burglary they were caught fleeing. He also said that Elyria and North Ridgeville police are looking at the pair to connect them to break-ins in those communities.
“If you come into the townships of Lorain County and commit burglaries, you’re going to be charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Smith said.
Blackburn and Matheny, who remain in the Lorain County Jail, are scheduled to be arraigned next week.
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