Three people have been arrested in connection with a series of distraction burglaries that occurred in Northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania after an Uber driver reported them to police, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Rudy Miller, 29, Rocky Mason, 28, and April Miller, 26, are being held in the Lake County Adult Detention Facility on charges of burglary and complicity to commit burglary, according to authorities. All three are from the Chicago area.
The first burglary happened Sunday around 1:35 p.m. at a home in the 11000 block of Girdled Road in Concord Township in Lake County, authorities said.
Two men in a black sedan pulled up to a home where a 73-year-old resident was working in her yard. The men told the resident that there was a nearby water main break in the area. One of the men started arguing with the resident while the other walked inside the woman’s home despite her protest.
After the two left, the resident discovered that a bracelet was missing from her jewelry box.
Around 45 minutes later, another burglary—this time in the 13000 block of Carter Road in Leroy Township, was reported.
The 90-year-old resident reported that two men, who matched a description from the previous robbery, walked into the home after mentioning a water main break, according to authorities. The resident said it didn’t appear that anything was taken from the home.
A short time later, another resident on the same street alerted police after two men came to the door and asked about a car for sale that the resident didn’t own. One of the men also mentioned doing some roofing work on the resident’s home, which, according to the resident, never happened, police said. The men left after not being let inside the home.
Pennsylvania State Police then reported a similar burglary. In that instance, two men in a black Dodge car took a safe that contained around $10,000 in cash from an elderly resident.
Later that evening around 6 p.m., authorities said that were notified about two men in a black car that claimed to be from the water company who entered a home and took around $6,000 worth of jewelry. An address for that incident wasn’t provided. The men left the area by heading west on Interstate 90.
About 20 minutes later, officers from the Madison Township Police Department found the vehicle, which was a 2012 Dodge Challenger with a temporary tag from Indiana, heading towards a gas station on Vrooman Road. Deputies from the sheriff’s office and troopers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol arrived at the gas station, but the car fled west on Interstate 90, authorities said.
Police lost sight of the vehicle near the Route 615 exit.
Later, an Uber driver went to Garfield Park in Mentor to pick up a fare. When he arrived, two men and a woman were near a black Dodge Challenger. The driver was offered $500 to take the trio to Chicago but he refused. He dropped them off near a hotel on Route 306 and then called police.
According to authorities, the Uber driver later told them that he had been listening to police scanners and heard chatter about a chase involving what appeared to be the same car he saw earlier.
After receiving the call from the Uber driver, police responded to the area and located the three individuals. Authorities said that they found a safe, cash and jewelry in the suspects’ vehicle.
Similar incidents in Ohio and Pennsylvania are under investigation.
The three suspects are scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday for an arraignment.
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