A half dozen men and women have been arrested over the past six weeks in connection with a string of break-ins across Ashe County.



The Ashe County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of seven suspects in conjunction with breaking, entering, and larceny spanning several months.

According to Sheriff James Williams, the following individuals were arrested by Detective Sgt Dennis Anders.

Suspects and their descriptors are:

1. Delaina Kathryn Grapes, 53, of Galax, VA, was arrested on Aug. 16, 2011, on a felony larceny charge. She was released on secured bond.

2. Lindsay Edwin Milam, 48, of Creston, was arrested on Aug. 2, 2011, on two counts of second degree burglary, possession of burglary tools, larceny of a firearm, larceny after breaking and entering, and possession of a firearm by convicted felon. Milam is currently being held on a $162,000, secured bond. Stolen property was partially recovered.

3. Brandon Wayne Eldreth, 19, of Big Horse Creek in Lansing, was arrested on Aug. 29, on several counts of felony larceny, multiple counts of misdemeanor larceny, obtaining property by false pretense, and injury to personal property. Some of the stolen property has been recovered. Eldreth has been released on bond.

4. Daniel Howard Hodges, 19, of Vilas and Orin Thomas, 17, of Miller’s Creek Road were arrested on August 30, 2011; Hodges and Thomas were arrested in Wilkes County. The pair were charged with injury to personal property, felony larceny, and multiple counts of misdemeanor larceny. The pair were released on bond; some of the stolen property has been recovered.

5. Jeffrey Daniel Rhodes, 22, of Jefferson, was arrested on Aug. 24, and charged with larceny of a firearm. Rhodes was released on bond.

6. Randall Scott Combs, 39, of West Jefferson, was arrested on Sept. 10, 2011, for injury to personal property.

7. Alvin Shawn Byrd, 34, of Hampton, Tenn, was arrested on Sept. 16, 2011, on charges of breaking, entering, and larceny. There has been partial recovery of the property. Bryd was released on bond.

Williams reports that there were several victims in these arrests from all over the County. Williams said that with the arrest of some of these suspects, several strings of break-ins have been cleared. Although not all the property was recovered, many items have been returned to their rightful owners.