WILLIAMSPORT, Ohio (Pickaway County) – A Williamsport man was arrested early Tuesday morning after deputies responding to a burglary in progress caught a suspect fleeing a rural property in a red sedan loaded with tools and wire, according to the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were dispatched around 1:41 a.m. on October 21 to a property at 10621 Crownover Road after the homeowner, Robert Burns, received a phone alert showing a man inside his barn.
Deputy C. Kreager arrived on scene and parked nearby with his lights off before approaching the barn on foot. As he scanned the area, he reportedly heard a vehicle start up in the field behind the barn and soon saw a red sedan pull out onto Crownover Road heading north.
Deputy Kreager followed and conducted a felony stop on the vehicle, detaining the driver — later identified as Joseph Ferguson — and reading him his Miranda rights. Ferguson initially claimed he was coming from his girlfriend’s house in Williamsport and denied being in the field.
However, deputies said a search of the vehicle revealed multiple pairs of wire cutters, a crowbar, and pieces of cut wire, including one tool that still had wire clamped in its jaws. Sgt. Joseph Hugus, who arrived at the scene, found a broken window on the north side of the barn and several spools of copper wire that had been moved outside. Burns confirmed the wire had originally been stored inside the building.
Deputies compared Burns’ security footage to Ferguson’s clothing and noted that the man in the video appeared to be wearing the same pants and shoes as Ferguson.
Ferguson was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Pickaway County Jail. Deputies collected the crowbar, wire cutters, and security footage as evidence.
The total value of the wire recovered was estimated at $686, though Sgt. Hugus said the total cost is likely higher once all spools are accounted for.
The investigation remains ongoing.
