He followed individuals after alleged theft of power tools
It’s not every day the county prosecutor winds up in hot pursuit.
David A. Barney and Ciara N. Allen were arraigned Thursday morning on charges stemming from an alleged theft from the local Home Depot.
PHILLIPS
The pair had the misfortune of having a very vigilant crime fighter as witness to the incident.
Early in the afternoon on Sunday, Nov. 22, Wendy Phillips, wife of Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips was decorating their home for the Christmas season when she realized she needed batteries. She and her husband drove to Home Depot.
“We actually pulled in behind them,” Dave Phillips said of the pair.
The man, later identified as Barney, walked into the store shortly before the Phillipses, who got the batteries, looked at a couple other things and checked out.
Phillips said he and his wife were back in their car and preparing to leave when they saw the man, come from the store with a cart full of merchandise.
“It is the Christmas season so that wasn’t too surprising,” Phillips said.
However, Phillips said he “took notice” when the man opened a car door and began to throw the merchandises into a blue Mazda sedan. A woman, later identified as Allen, had the car waiting and ready to leave.
“He started chucking the items with security straps still attached into his back seat,” Wendy Phillips wrote.
Dave Phillips said that when he saw the security devices still attached to the boxes, he knew something was amiss.
“I told my wife, ‘I think he is stealing those things,’” Dave Phillips said.
He said the car began to leave, but it didn’t have a license plate. He said that as the car began to drive away, store officials ran outside and pointed “animatedly” at the car,
Wendy Phillips wrote, “Dave told me to follow him, so we did.”
As they followed, Dave Phillips called 911.
“I told them who I was and what was happening,” Dave Phillips said.
Wendy Phillips followed the car on Industrial Parkway, across Scottslawn Road, and onto U.S. 33 toward Columbus. Dave Phillips stressed that his wife, “was following, but she kept her distance.”
“Dave was on the phone with 911 the entire time letting them know where we were,” Wendy Phillips said.
Dispatchers sent a sheriff’s deputy to the U.S. 33 intersection with U.S. 42. As the chase neared the intersection, Dave Phillips told the dispatchers when the deputy had the right car. Wendy Phillips kept driving as the deputy pulled Allen over.
Inside the car, law enforcement found several chainsaws and other boxes of power tools along with the vehicle’s license plate.
Barney is charged with one count of misdemeanor theft. Allen is charged with complicity to theft, a misdemeanor, and failure to display a license plate, a traffic offense.
The prosecutor said the allegations are charged as a misdemeanor because the items allegedly stolen totaled $996, just $4 short of the threshold for felony theft charges.
That said, because the misdemeanor charges are handled in municipal court, the Marysville law director can prosecute the case rather than needing a special prosecutor.
Dave Phillips said the number of criminal cases he has prosecuted, with a similar pattern of behavior, made him aware in the situation. He encouraged people to be aware.
“I think it is good for citizens, if they see something, to say something, to call 911, but not get involved,” Dave Phillips said.