Couple held as heroin mules, roving thieves

Detectives in Scioto County have busted a couple who they say had been traveling from state to state and breaking into homes and vehicles — oh, and transporting heroin along the way, Reporter Holly Zachariah reports.

And it turns out a stolen iPhone may have been their downfall.

In custody and charged with multiple felonies are Zachary Deming, 24, of Detroit, and his girlfriend, 21-year-old Courtney Skyles, of Beauty, Kentucky.

Scioto County Sheriff Marty Donini said Monday that the two are so far suspected of breaking into homes and vehicles here in Ohio, as well as in Kentucky, Michigan and West Virginia.

The couple researched well-to-do neighborhoods on real- estate websites before choosing their marks, Donini said. Then, they used a punch- tool to shatter windows and make off with the goods.

But on Aug. 22, deputies in Scioto County, in southern Ohio along the Ohio River, responded to calls of a couple of breakins in Wheelersburg. In one of those cases, the victims immediately tracked their stolen cellphones. Deputies went to the phones’ location — near a Wendy’s in Wheelersburg — and say they found Deming nearby in a parking lot with the stolen loot, scratching off instant lottery tickets.

Among the items recovered were electronics, cellphones, purses, wallets, credit cards, computers, gift cards, drivers’ licenses, watches, and even a bicycle.

The suspects allegedly used a black Nissan Maxima with Kentucky tags on their Midwestern jaunts.

The sheriff said Monday he thinks there could be more victims in other areas. He asked that any other departments who think they might have cases with these two as suspects call Detective Jodi Conkel at 740-351-1091.

Sobriety checkpoint coming this weekend

The weekend may be days out, but the Franklin County DUI Task Force wants you to start planning now.

A sobriety checkpoint will be held this weekend.

Checkpoints, which are highly publicized, typically do not result in a high number of impaired-driving arrests. Instead, the task force, which is made up of numerous law enforcement agencies, uses the checkpoints as a way to remind drivers not to drive impaired and to make other plans to return home safely from a night out.

Check back at Dispatch. com for updates.