ST. MATTHEWS – A Calhoun County Sheriff’s deputy patrolling a troubled sector Monday put an end to several months of church break-ins in three counties, police say.

Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers said Sgt. David Martin stopped a suspicious vehicle early Monday, leading to the arrests of three people for break-ins at churches in upper Calhoun County, Lexington and Newberry counties.

Martin came upon a vehicle parked near a church in western Calhoun County and stopped to investigate at around 6 a.m. Monday.

“Inside the vehicle, he noticed some tools that could be used in a burglary,” Summers said.

In Lexington County, detectives on Tuesday released photographs that were recorded by a night-vision surveillance camera system of two men who broke into Sardis Baptist Church on St. Matthews Road between Swansea and St. Matthews.

Martin recognized the two men as the ones he had stopped near a Calhoun County church two days earlier.

Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said based on Martin’s information, his investigators on Thursday were able to obtain warrants on Patrick Burton Olvey and James Richard Osborne, both 20. They were arrested at their homes in Gilbert and Little Mountain, respectively.

Olvey has been charged with first-degree burglary and criminal conspiracy; Osborne was arrested on charges of second-degree burglary and criminal conspiracy.

Also arrested Thursday was Kayla Ann Graydon of Chapin. The 18-year-old Graydon is charged with second-degree burglary and criminal conspiracy.

Osborne and Graydon have had bond set on them – $40,000 and $20,000, respectively.

Olvey is awaiting a hearing before a circuit court judge.

In a news conference Friday, Metts and Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said more than 21 church break-ins were solved in the three counties with the arrests of Graydon, 18, of 168 Crystal Cove Court, Chapin; Olvey, 20, of 236 Sampson Rd., Gilbert; and Osborne, 20, of 425 Holy Trinity Church Rd., Little Mountain.

In Lexington County, Graydon, Olvey and Osborne went on a nearly two month-crime spree at churches that began on May 24 and ended on July 14, Metts said. Graydon, Olvey and Osborne committed 20 crimes at 18 Lexington County churches, including St. Peters Lutheran Church in Chapin, where the news conference was held. The crimes committed at churches in Lexington County included 14 burglaries, four acts of vandalism and two larcenies.

In Newberry County, Graydon, Olvey and Osborne went on a crime spree at churches that began on June 26 and ended on July 12, Foster said. Graydon, Olvey and Osborne committed seven burglaries at six churches in Newberry County.

“We thought it would be very appropriate to come to the sanctuary at St. Peters Lutheran Church and announce these arrests,” Metts said. “You can’t break into God’s House and not get caught. You can’t break into God’s House and not be severely punished.“

Pastor David Tholstrup of St. Peters Lutheran Church and Janice Hallman, a member of St. Peters, attended the news conference and discussed how the break-ins affected the faith community.

“They really did not steal a whole bunch of money from churches. What they stole is a sense of innocence,” Tholstrup said. “They took temporal stuff and missed out on eternal things. My hope is now that they have been caught we can change them in fundamental ways.”

Hallman said the arrests of Graydon, Olvey and Osborne will help restore a sense of security in rural communities where the trio targeted churches.

“People can now feel more secure coming to church and going out in the community,” Hallman said. “I want to encourage everyone to become a member of a neighborhood crime watch group, if they already are not a member of one.”

Gethsemane Baptist Church in the Sunny Plains area is one of two churches in Calhoun County burglarized during the time frame the thieves were active. The Rev. Henry Cooper, Gethsemane’s pastor, said it was apparent the burglars were searching for money or items easily converted to cash.

“They went in every door that had a lock on it, like my office door and a door where we keep our copy machine,” Cooper said. “The doors for other things that we keep locked were pried open and broken into.”

Cooper expressed concern that even the lock on a prayer box in the church’s vestibule was forced open.

“I guess they were thinking that there may have been offerings put in there,” he said. “They just went through the entire building. You could see where they had pretty much gone through every room and plundered.”

Summers said Calhoun County investigators will wait until Lexington and Newberry counties have had their say against the trio before bringing their own charges at a later date.

Metts during a press conference Friday said Olvey, Osborne and Graydon have admitted at least 20 different break-ins in Lexington County alone. Those crimes were committed over a three-and-a-half month period, he said.

Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said his investigators are filing charges against the group after they admitted to seven burglaries in his jurisdiction.

However, the charges the trio are being held on currently allege that Olvey and Osborne broke into Sardis Baptist Church on Monday with the intent to commit a crime in a house of worship.

Metts said the two men stole about $150 but caused more than $6,700 in damage to electronic equipment, including the church’s night-vision surveillance camera system used to identify the intruders.

An office manager at Sardis Baptist Church contacted law enforcement on Monday after discovering the facility had been burglarized sometime after the last Sunday service and before 7 a.m. on Monday.

Cooper said no serious damage was done at his congregation’s Sunny Plains facility.

“We’re thankful that it wasn’t any worse than it was, and I’m glad that the people who might have been responsible for it have been apprehended,” Cooper said. “Hopefully, that will kind of put a stop to it.”

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com. T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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