Newberry County Sheriff’s investigators have spent the past 24 hours working to determine if two men charged with breaking into churches in Lexington County are responsible for the break-ins at churches in Newberry and Little Mountain.

Lexington County deputies have charged

Patrick Olvey, 20, of 236 Sampson Road, Gilbert and James Richard Osborne, 20, of 425 Holy Trinity Church Road, Little Mountain with a church break-in there. The two are in the Lexington County Detention Center facing charges of burglary and criminal conspiracy.

The duo was arrested yesterday afternoon after being identified on night vision surveillance photos taken during a break-in at Sardis Baptist Church in Lexington County.

After the Lexington Sheriff released the tapes Tuesday, the next day the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office told Lexington deputies it recognized the suspects. Also, a Calhoun deputy found Olvey and Osborne parked near a rural church Monday morning in his county, about an hour before the break-in at Sardis Baptist Church around 6 a.m.

The information allowed Lexington County to obtain arrest warrants for the men.

Those warrants allege the two broke into the house of worship and stole $4,150 in cash from a cash box they pried open. The men are also charged with causing about $6,700 in damages to electronic equipment at the church, including the night-vision surveillance camera system.

Since the arrests, Newberry County investigators worked though the night looking at whether the men were involved in local church burglaries, including a church on the same road where Osborne lives.

“Shortly after the first burglaries in Newberry County, our investigators began checking with neighboring counties to see if they had similar instances,“ said Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster. “It was determined that Lexington had similar incidents with similar MO’s (methods of operation). At that time, a task force was assembled in an effort to solve the spree of burglaries. Extraordinary measures were employed to solve this string of burglaries in Lexington and Newberry counties.“

Detectives think the suspects broke into numerous churches to steal money. In some cases, electronics, such as digital cameras, and lawn equipment were taken.

At press time, Foster said his office was still working “long and hard to try to determine if these two are involved in our burglaries“ and to recover property that was taken, including a television.

“We have had investigators in Lexington all day yesterday and well into the morning this morning,“ said Foster. “For someone to break into a domicile is bad, but to break into the house of the Lord is a truly low, despicable act.“

Foster says more information about the case will be released when it is available.

For now, both men are in jail in Lexington County. Due to his criminal record, which includes two burglary convictions, Olvey has been charged with first degree burglary. One of those convictions includes a June 22, 2005 break-in at White Knoll High School in Lexington County where less than $1,000 was stolen.

If convicted, Olvey could be sentenced to life in prison. Due to the seriousness of the sentence, bond for Olvey will have to be set by a circuit judge.

Osborne is being charged with second degree burglary and his bond will be set by a magistrate judge. Osborne could receive a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

At press time, both men were awaiting bond hearings.

Lexington Sheriff James Metts says, “Church officials can remove opportunities for thieves to break into churches by ensuring that all church doors are kept locked whenever a church is not occupied. If churches have installed burglar alarm systems, the burglar alarm systems should be activated whenever the churches are not occupied.

“Also, if a church has a surveillance camera system, it should be operable and recording video properly.

“Church leaders should ensure that all valuable items are kept stored in a secure location and not in plain view. Church officials should not keep any money stored at church.”