The Brown County Sheriff’s Office is on their way to destroying another alleged burglary ring.

The BCSO announced Wednesday, Oct. 28, that it is recommending 21 felony charges for at least seven alleged burglaries and thefts committed in Brown County against Jeffrey Carlier, 52, of Fayetteville. Carlier is also alleged to have committed 22 burglaries in Clermont County and another three burglaries in Clinton County.

According to a BCSO press release, Carlier was arrested Oct. 14 and he remains locked up at the Brown County Adult Detention Center on $100,000 bond through the Brown County Municipal Court.

Documents filed with the municipal court show evidence of a common criminal practice used by Carlier and his associates. According to a probable cause affidavit, Carlier broke into a home southeast of Fayetteville in Perry Township on Sept. 22 and removed multiple firearms, jewelry, and loose change.

One day later, the BCSO was contacted by Coins Plus in Beechmont, about Carlier coming into their store and selling jewelry and coins. A sheriff’s deputy went to the store and took pictures of the jewelry and coins that were sold, and after checking that with the descriptions of the missing jewelry and coins from the victims, Carlier was matched to the crime.

According to BCSO detective Chad Noble, who led the investigation into Carlier, this was a common practice.

“He stole all kinds of jewelry,” Noble said in a phone interview. “Gold, silver, any kind of coins he could find, anything of any kind of value that he could sell to a pawn shop or gold dealer. He was taking anything and everything he could get his hands on.”

Noble, Clermont County Investigator Chris Allen, and Doug Eastes of the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office tracked alleged burglaries committed by Carlier back to December 2014, but the investigation into Carlier’s alleged actions really began in late April and early May.

According to the investigators Carlier and his associates would look for homes without cars in the driveway, and then would knock on the door. If no one answered, Carlier and his associates would then break into the home by either kicking in the door, prying it open, or breaking windows.

“We know that Carlier used multiple people to assist him in these burglaries,” Noble said. “Sometimes they’d just be a driver, sometimes they’d just break into the home and take stuff out of the house.”

In a phone interview, Allen said that while it was tough to determine the full value of the items Carlier stole, a safe estimate for the valuation of items stolen is around $50,000.

The investigators found that many of the alleged burglaries were committed in the northern part of Brown and Clermont Counties, as well as southern Clinton County, and in mostly rural areas.

As is common with crime of this sort, Carlier allegedly used the money earned from trading in stolen items to support his heroin addiction.

“He admitted to being a really bad heroin addict,” Noble said.

It’s also not Carlier’s first time in trouble with the law. As far back as 1991, Carlier was charged for reckless operation of vehicle in the municipal court, and since then he’s been charged for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, illegal cultivation of marijuana, and persistent disorderly conduct.

Carlier was charged on five felony counts, including three counts of trafficking in heroin and a count of tampering with evidence in October 2010. He was sentenced in January 2011 on two of the charges to one and a half years in the Ohio Department of Corrections, and was denied judicial release on two occasions.

According to Noble, the investigation into Carlier was helped by members of the local community.

“People in the community had a feeling about him and then we keep track and we watch pawn shops and things like that to see if there’s any kinds of irregular sells going on, like if one person is selling a large amount of stuff,” Noble said. “He came up on our radar based on that.”

Noble said there is another person of interest who may have been connected to Carlier’s alleged burglaries that’s currently incarcerated at the Brown County Jail, but Noble declined to name the individual due to an ongoing investigation.

Noble did however commend the work done by Clermont and Clinton County, and said that due to his investigative work, he has developed a good working relationship with Allen.

“I have been looking into this guy since about May just on a suspicion that they were selling items that were stolen,” Allen said. “I knew (Noble) had some burglaries (in his jurisdiction) and we would always touch base with each other. It kind of solidified everything. I knew who I was looking for and Chad was able to give me some background history on who he was and who he ran with. It worked out really well.”

Both Noble and Allen also gave tips on how to avoid being burglarized in the future.

Allen recommended purchasing an alarm system, as well as putting valuables in a heavy safe that is difficult for criminals to walk away with, and Noble recommended buying trail cameras to use for security.

But the biggest advice the pair offered was to be a good neighbor, and if someone sees something suspicious, to report it.

“These guys are going around knocking on doors, asking if you need your leaves raked or trees trimmed,” Allen said. “If it doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not right. Remember a face. Remember a tag off a car. Leaving your garbage can at the end of the driveway, that’s an indication that you haven’t been home. Just remember things like that.”

Jeffrey Carlier
https://www.ripleybee.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_MUGSHOTS_34112943-1-.jpgJeffrey Carlier
Jeffrey Carlier is facing up to 21 felony charges for alleged burglaries in Brown County.

By Daniel Karell

dkarell@civitasmedia.com

Reach Daniel Karell at 937-378-6161. Follow him on Twitter @GNDKarell