Woman gets 1-2 years in state prison
A Lawrence County woman charged in a multicounty crime spree that included burglaries, robberies and attempted homicide, pleaded guilty in two cases in Butler County Court on Wednesday.
Brandy M. Rombold, 40, of Ellwood City, pleaded guilty to three felony counts of burglary and one misdemeanor count of theft before Judge William Shaffer.
She is one of three people in the case that investigators said are known users and manufacturers of methamphetamine.
The plea agreement calls for a state prison sentence of 1 to 2 years, as well as probation. Rombold will also be ordered to pay restitution, fines and court costs when she is sentenced on May 24.
Rombold was charged by state police after incidents on July 1 in Butler and Cranberry townships.
She will be turned over to law enforcement in Lawrence County to face criminal proceedings in the attempted homicide case.
Rombold was charged alongside Tyler M. Amos, 26, of Cochranton, Crawford County, following a string of incidents in Western Pennsylvania that is believed to have started in Crawford County on June 29 and continued to July 1. Donald G. McClain III, 46, also was charged in Lawrence County and was arrested in Ellwood City.
Amos and Rombold were charged with attempted homicide, kidnapping, robbery, burglary, theft and conspiracy charges, while McClain was charged with conspiracy and gun charges after an incident in Lawrence County.
State police first learned of the alleged crime spree when the suspects burglarized Cable Hardwoods, a saw mill on Portersville Road in Perry Township, Lawrence County, just west of the Butler County line. McClain, a former employee, knew the business was closed on Saturdays and how to get in, police said.
The 60-year-old owner, Jeff Cable, made an unplanned stop at the business and discovered a door to one of his sheds was opened. He was confronted by the armed suspects, police said. One suspect fired a shotgun, and, as Cable ran to his car, a second gunshot hit the vehicle. The suspects forced him into an office building where he was “held at gunpoint and threatened,” according to a police report, “before being robbed and beaten.”
“The (pair) then attempted to shoot the 60-year-old victim,” the report said, but the gun “misfired.”
During the altercation, Roy Magell, Cable's father in-law, showed up to feed the cats at the business. Rombold immediately held that man at gunpoint too, police said. The 84-year-old Magell was robbed of his wallet and badly beaten by both suspects.
Amos and Rombold drove off in Cable's Toyota Scion, according to authorities. After the attacks at Cable's Hardwood, investigators said McClain separated from Amos and Rombold.
Despite serious injuries, police said, Cable managed to crawl through the woods to a nearby home to get help. A medical helicopter later flew him to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. Magell was taken by ambulance to Ellwood City Hospital, police said, where he was treated and released.
Amos and Rombold then allegedly continued their crime spree after ditching the stolen car, which was later found burned in a nearby field.
Authorities said they continued burglarizing buildings, including one in Butler Township, and stealing vehicles including one during a home burglary on Hummingbird Hill in Cranberry Township. Two firearms also were stolen in that incident, police said.
The suspects eventually drove to Cadiz in northeastern Ohio, where Harrison County deputy sheriffs spotted the white Highlander, which was equipped with a GPS tracking system that was used by police find the vehicle on a secluded road.
When the suspects saw the deputies, Rombold surrendered immediately.
Twelve burglaries were investigated in relation to the crime spree, and Amos and Rombold have admitted to seven of those break-ins, according to investigators. Amos previously pleaded guilty to three consolidated felony counts of burglary and one misdemeanor count of theft in his related Butler County cases, and is expected to be sentenced to 15 to 30 months in state prison, also on May 24.
Rombold continues to be held on $5,000 bail in the Butler County incidents, and both are held on $250,000 bail for the Lawrence County case.
