Investigators with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office have charged a Columbia juvenile and two adults in a rash of break-ins that occurred in the county earlier this month.
In addition to the 16-year-old juvenile, investigators arrested Darius Walker, 18, of Saddle Trail Road in Columbia, and Calvin Rydriell Graham, 17, of Sanota Court in Columbia. All three were arrested last week and have been charged with burglary.
The string of break-ins all took place June 6 and netted robbers more than $6,000 in goods, beginning with a home in the 5600 block of Highway 215 in Jenkinsville. Investigators arriving there at 11:35 a.m. found the back door of the home had been kicked in, leaving a shoe print on the door, and two flat-screen televisions worth $650 stolen.
Twenty minutes later, investigators were called to a home in the 5800 block of Reservoir Road in Winnsboro, which had been broken into through the garage. Homeowners told the Sheriff’s Office that a flat-screen television worth $600 had been stolen from the home. A muddy shoe print was located and photographed on the ground outside the rear garage door, and another near the garage opening.
Investigators were then dispatched to a home in the 200 block of Bowsan Lane in Winnsboro at 5:18 p.m. Suspects had broken into the back door of the home and stole a video camera worth $400 as well as four shotguns and six rifles worth $4,500.
On June 20, Fairfield County investigators were invited to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County to interview a juvenile who had been picked up by City of Columbia police during a traffic stop in June 15. During that traffic stop, police found one of the missing shotguns in the back seat of the car.
“Our investigators interviewed (the juvenile) and he talked,” said Captain Brad Douglas of the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office. “It was just some good interviewing techniques that broke the case.”
The 16-year-old male suspect reportedly admitted to participating in the three Fairfield County break-ins and implicated Walker and Graham. The juvenile also led investigators to an abandoned home in Columbia, underneath which the other stolen firearms were found. The Sheriff’s Office said they suspect the three are part of a larger ring of burglars operating out of Columbia.
