CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A man is in custody who Charleston police believe is linked to several burglaries in the area.
Joseph Hardwick, 32, of Nitro, was arraigned Friday night in Kanawha County Magistrate Court after being charged with two felony crimes.
According to police, Hardwick went into a house on Dogwood Road in Charleston Monday in an attempt to burglarize it. A teenage boy was sleeping when his mother arrived home and confronted Hardwick inside the home. She had taken Hardwick’s cell phone from the front seat of his car when she didn’t recognize the vehicle.
Friday night, investigators said Hardwick told them of another burglary that he had been part of. Police said $9,000 worth of guns were stolen at a residence on Meadow Crest Drive.
“The guns have been located and will be released to the owner. Hardwick is suspected in several other burglaries in the area,” police said in a news release. More information on the items recovered is expected to be released Monday.
Hardwick is being held on $50,000 bail in the South Central Regional Jail.