Sheriff's investigator helps break up burglary, theft ring; two arrested

PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Lampasas County Sheriff's Investigator John Seery is shown with a portion of the items recovered after two home burglaries and a series of thefts. Two men have been arrested and charged with theft-related offenses. The Lampasas County Sheriff’s Department successfully broke up a home burglary and theft ring with the recent arrest of two suspects.

Investigator John Seery said the home burglaries occurred in Lometa on Jan. 9, and Jan. 12 in Kempner.

After the break-ins were reported, Seery kept watch online at a nationwide Web site that monitors pawn shop transactions. He was hoping to spot some of the property that was stolen in the county.

“I started noticing some of the property coming up on the pawn shop site was some of the items reported missing,” he said. Seery said it happened twice.

And the investigator was able to retrieve a name to match the pawned items.

Earl Nowlain The suspect, Earl David Nowlain, 25, of Lampasas was brought to the sheriff’s office for questioning on Jan. 14, and he confessed to the burglaries.

Nowlain’s admission led to the arrest of a second suspect, 17-yearold James Nash of Lampasas, who also confessed to the thefts.

In addition, the pair would drive around city and county residences during the day, and if they saw something in garages or outside on lawns that they wanted, they returned at night to retrieve the items between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., said Seery.

The investigator said Nowlain and Nash were able to amass several truckloads of items that way, including a motorcycle, pressure washers, chainsaws, weedeaters, compressors, scaffolding and more.

“There’s so much stuff that we don’t even know who it belongs to,” said Seery. “A lot of people probably don’t even realize their property is missing.”

James Nash Nowlain was released Jan. 27 after posting a $35,000 bond for the Lometa burglary. He was rearrested Tuesday and charged with the burglary in Kempner. On Wednesday, he was still in jail on a $50,000 bond.

Nash was released on Tuesday after posting a $10,000 bond.

More charges are expected to be filed on both individuals, said Seery.

“If you are missing something -- especially small tools -- please give us a call. We might have your property,” Seery said. “We have some items we don’t know who they belong to.”

The investigator, who has made several trips to retrieve property, estimated that between $15,000 and $20,000 in stolen property was recovered.