The five men officials believe are responsible for a crime spree in Denmark and Norway Monday night were formally charged Friday.

Orangeburg County Chief Magistrate Willie Robinson called each of the men before the bench and told them the number of warrants filed on them and read their charges. Because each of them have first-degree burglary among their charges, he refused to grant bond to any of them.

“The charge of first-degree burglary carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison,” Robinson said. “A circuit court judge will have to grant bail on that charge. Therefore, I am forgoing pronouncing bond on any of the charges and will allow the circuit court judge to do so at your first appearance in General Sessions Court.”

Robinson set the men’s next court appearance on Feb. 12, 2007.

Officials believe the five men started a three-hour crime spree in Denmark, where a man was shot, then moved on to Norway where they forced their way into two homes.

Officials say an 82-year-old man was shot in one of the Norway incidents and his wife was assaulted.

An Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office incident report alleges the men, each armed with handguns, forced their way into the other Norway home by kicking in the front door. Four individuals lived there: two men, one woman and her one-year-old child.

The incident report alleges Darrell Gleaton forced the woman at gunpoint to have sex with him and threatened to kill her son. A warrant against him claims he also hit the baby on the head with a gun.

One of the men, Brandon Staley, is charged with firing a shotgun approximately four times in the dwelling.

Officials say the men then left the house, stealing a wallet and a car that belonged to one of the men. The car was later found wrecked and burned about a mile and a half from the residence. Deputies located Darrell Gleaton about two miles from the residence by tracking him from the burned car by tracks in a field.

Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams said once Darrell Gleaton was captured, he cooperated with law enforcement and they were able to locate and arrest Staley in the same general vicinity.

Law enforcement officials said William Antonio Gleaton was located and arrested in Barnwell while Ricardo Johnson and Darone Derricott were found and arrested in a bus station in Columbia. Officials say they were attempting to return to the Washington, D.C. area.

Sgt. Anthony Craft, lead investigator from the OCSO, touted the fact that all the men were in custody within 24 hours of law enforcement receiving reports of the crimes.

“The minute we got word of what had happened, we got on it and stayed on it,” Craft said. “We got the first report at about 1 a.m. Tuesday and by 1 a.m. Wednesday, we had all of them in custody. And most of us were up and on the job for that whole time. After we got them, we all got some well-earned sleep.”

Craft had only praise for all the agencies involved in the capture of the five men.

“SLED (State Law Enforcement Division), Norway Police Department, Denmark Police Department and Springfield Police Department stepped up and stuck with us to the end. We were all working together to get these guys and to keep them from hurting anyone else,” he said.

“To get these guys off the street in 24 hours is really the result of all the agencies involved working well together,” Craft said. “And we worked together like a well-oiled machine, never losing sight of our priority – keeping the public safe. This was a good capture; a successful mission.”

The suspects, and their charges, are:

* Ricardo Johnson, 19, of 7015 Highview Terrace, Hyattsville, Md., is charged with armed robbery, possession of firearm during the commission of a violent crime and first-degree burglary.

* Darone Derricott Jr., 18, of 5011 4th St. N.W., Washington, D.C., is charged with armed robbery, kidnapping, first-degree burglary and assault and battery with intent to kill.

* Brandon A. Staley, 20, of 363 Samaria Road, Springfield, is charged with first-degree burglary, kidnapping, armed robbery, discharging a firearm in a dwelling and assault and battery with intent to kill.

* William Antonio Gleaton, 25, of 371 Samaria Road, Springfield, is charged with armed robbery, kidnapping, possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, first-degree burglary and pointing and presenting a firearm.

* Darrell Gleaton, 18, of 331 Burgdorf Lane, Springfield, is charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, kidnapping, assault and battery with intent to kill, armed robbery, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and first-degree burglary.

T&D Staff Writer Thomas Brown can be reached by e-mail at tbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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