SEVEN SUSPECTS ACTED AS “CRIME SYNDICATE” INVOLVING THEFT RING ROBBING VENDING MACHINES THROUGHOUT PIKE COUNTY, EAST KY.
PIKEVILLE, Ky. — An investigation that was conducted during the last five weeks by the Pikeville Police Department resulted in seven people from three different states facing felony charges in connection with a string of vending machine thefts.
Law enforcement officials said it took investigators in several eastern Kentucky counties to solve the case.
A Pike County, Kentucky grand jury indicted the group on multiple counts for engaging in organized crime, for taking actions together in as a “criminal syndicate”.
The grand jury in Pike County indicted Charles D. Perkins, 24, Jordan R. Lemaster, 23, and Alyssa L. Roberts, 27, of Louisa, Seth A. Rigsby, 29, of Martha, Carl Marcum, 28, of Fort Gay, West Virginia, and Amber D. Ely, 30, and Lori Birt of Columbus, Ohio (formerly of Webbville, Ky.).
Pikeville Police said the seven engineered a scheme to steal money from older-model vending machines in Pike County and surrounding counties.
According to Pikeville Police Department Detective Bruce Collins, “They said that they didn’t want to tear up the machines as they were doing this because if they tore up the machines, the people who own the vending machines would repair them or replace them and they wouldn’t be able to get back into them.”
The Pikeville Police worked with Kentucky State Police and the Louisa Police Department to catch the seven indicted suspects. They say tips from the public and social media helped them identify the suspects.
Charles D. Perkins has an extensive criminal record over the past decade, with a double digit number of arrests on numerous charges in eastern and central Kentucky counties. Perkins was taken into custody Thursday July 7, on the day of his indictment, by deputy Deskins of the Pike County Sheriff Department, where he remains incarcerated at the Pike County Detention Center.
Alyssa L. Roberts is gaining a notorious reputation, as her Pike County indictment marks the second time in the last several weeks she has been indicted on a felony charge while being part of a criminal gang. In May she was indicted on a charge of manufacturing methamphetamine 1st Degree, while acting with the assistance of a total of TEN other Louisa residents. She was arrested by the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department on May 16 on the indictment. She later posted a $20,000 bond. Alyssa Roberts was arrested again by the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department on June 29 for a bench warrant stemming from fines involving a separate arrest December 1, 2015 on charges of • OPERATING MOTOR VEHICLE UNDER/INFLUENCE ALCOHOL/DRUGS/ETC. .08 – 1ST OFFENSE, • LICENSE TO BE IN POSSESSION, • NO REGISTRATION RECEIPT, • FAILURE TO PRODUCE INSURANCE CARD, • DRUG PARAPHERNALIA – BUY/POSSESS. Roberts served a contempt of court sentence for the charges on April 15, 2016, but failed to complete the guidelines of her sentencing . Alyssa Roberts was also charged for a new manufacturing methamphetamine 1st Degree on her June 29 arrest. She now remains in custody at the Big Sandy Detention Center in Paintsville.
Jordan R. Lemaster has been arrested seven times in Lawrence and Boyd counties since December 2011, mainly on minor criminal offenses.
Seth A. Rigsby was arrested by the Louisa Police Department on June 1, 2010, on a felony charge of 2nd Degree Assault, which is a Class B felony, punishable by 5 to 10 years to prison; a charge implying he may have been involved in a stabbing or serious injury of someone during a physical altercation.
Amber Ely, while her address was listed in the indictment as being from Columbus, Ohio, is a native of Louisa. When she was picked up by Louisa Police on a bench warrant charge on May 8, her address was also listed as Columbus. but when she was arrested on June 15, 2016 by the Kentucky State Police, on a warrant out of Campbell County, Ky on a failure to appear on a misdemeanor charge, her address was listed as being from Louisa. The warrant from Campbell County was for an arrest on May 30, 2015, on charges of possession of a controlled substance, 2nd Degree-drug unspecified, and also possession of drug paraphernalia. In the Campbell County arrest, her address was listed as being from Webbville (Lawrence County). She posted a $500 bond exactly one year earlier from her Louisa arreston May 8, 2015. Amber Ely was arrested on unknown charges in Columbus, Ohio, along with another earlier arrest in Columbus on unknown charges on March 14, 2015.
Lori Birt, Like Amber Ely, Lori Birt has her address listed in the indictment as being from Columbus, but Birt is also originally from Lawrence County, hailing from Webbville, and having graduated from Lawrence County High School. Lori Birt may be a ‘newbie’, for she apparently has no known criminal record.
Carl Marcum, a Fort Gay native, has been arrested twice in Lawrence County, once on August 26, 2015 by Louisa Police for violating a Kentucky EPO/DVO; and again on February 11, 2016 by Louisa Police on a bench warrant charge.
