Two accused of breaking into rural Bartholomew County homes

Residents helped detain two people suspected of breaking into homes in rural Bartholomew County early Sunday morning.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that deputies were called to the 6500 block of County Road South 550W shortly after 1 a.m.  in the morning after someone tried to enter a home. The homeowner described the man who tried to break in and gave a description of a light-colored vehicle parked across the street during the attempt. Another neighbor then spoke to police, saying that the suspect vehicle backed into his driveway. When he tried to talk to the driver, he fled the area.

That’s when another neighbor reported that the vehicle was blocked in by the vehicle of a relative in the 8000 block of West County Road 450S. There, deputies took the driver into custody. And deputies discovered a basement window of a neighboring home was broken and someone had entered the home to take jewelry.

The driver of the suspect vehicle, 37-year-old Rockford Mobley of Morgantown, told deputies that his girlfriend had recently been released from the Morgan County Jail and asked him to drive her to that location. Deputies discovered the woman, 26-year-old Niki Linville of Columbus, in the backyard of a nearby home.

Mobley was arrested on a preliminary charge of residential entry. Linville is facing charges of burglary, criminal mischief and residential entry.