Lyon County Sheriff's Office arrest two in string of burglaries with help from 'alert neighbors'
During the last week, Lyon County Sheriff’s Deputies in the Dayton Patrol area have investigated a string of burglaries along the Highway 50 corridor in Dayton.
The suspects were targeting closed businesses and breaking and entering those businesses looking for anything of value.
Deputies gathered evidence on the scene of the burglaries and also obtained surveillance video of the suspects’ vehicle. Deputies have been on the lookout for the suspects and the vehicle.
On April 2, 2020, at about 1:18 pm, a patrol deputy working in the Mark Twain area of Dayton spotted a vehicle believed to be used in the string of burglaries.
A traffic stop was initiated and the suspect fled. The suspect eventually stopped the vehicle and exited on foot at which time deputies chased the suspect into a neighborhood in the Riverpark Subdivision.
Several alert neighbors called 911 to report that the suspect was jumping fences and running from backyard to backyard. A Lyon County Sheriff’s Office K9 team was dispatched to the area and a K9 was deployed to a house in the 800 block of Reggie Way to search for the suspect.
The Sheriff’s Office K9 pinpointed the suspect to a backyard and deputies were able to located the suspect and place him under arrest. No injuries to the deputies or the suspect were sustained during the incident.
The suspect was identified as 24-year-old Matthew Hamlet of Dayton. He was found to be in possession of illegal drugs as well as a set of stolen keys that were linked to at least one of the burglaries.
Lyon County Special Investigations Detectives took over the investigation and developed information on another suspect involved in the burglaries who was identified was Nicholas Wofford, a 28-year-old Dayton resident.
Interviews were conducted with Hamlet and Wofford, and they both subsequently confessed to seven burglaries in the Dayton area. Numerous items of stolen property were recovered by Detectives and the cases are still under investigation.
The Sheriff’s Office wants to let the residents of Lyon County know that we will not tolerate burglaries and are stepping up extra patrols of businesses in our communities. '
This case shows how effective the teamwork between the community and the Sheriff’s Office can be. The suspect who fled from deputies was quickly apprehended because of the quick response from residents in the area who were watching the suspect and updating dispatch with his location as he fled from deputies.
That communication allowed the K9 team to target a specific area and ultimately locate the suspect and take him into custody.
The Sheriff’s Office is urging anyone with information about these burglaries to contact the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office - Special Investigation Unit Detectives at (775) 463-6600, or contact Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900.
Hamlet was booked into the Lyon County Jail on the following charges:
-Resisting Arrest
-Trafficking Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine
-Obtain / Use Other Person Identification
-Felony Warrant Arrest on Failure to Appear after release of Bail
-Possession of a Forged Instrument (Forgery)
-Commercial Burglary
-Conspiracy to Commit Burglary
His bail is set at $ 193,640
Wofford was also booked into the Lyon County Jail on the following charges:
-Commercial Burglary
-Conspiracy to Commit Burglary
-Possession of Stolen Property
His bail is set at $ 127,500