Suspects arrested in string of Dayton burglaries

Two suspects in a string of commercial burglaries in Dayton were arrested Thursday, according to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office.

During the last week, Lyon County Sheriff’s deputies in the Dayton patrol area have investigated a string of burglaries along the Highway 50 corridor.

The suspects were targeting closed businesses, breaking and entering looking for anything of value, according to a news release from the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies determined the suspect’s mode of operation and linked several of the burglaries together after noticing the forced entry was the same. Deputies gathered evidence on the scene of the burglaries and also obtained surveillance video of the suspects’ vehicle.

On Thursday at 1:18 pm, a patrol deputy working in the Mark Twain area of Dayton spotted a vehicle believed to be used in the string of burglaries. A traffic stop was initiated and the suspect fled. The suspect eventually stopped the vehicle and exited on foot at which time deputies chased the suspect into a neighborhood in the Riverpark subdivision.

Several alert neighbors called 911 to report that the suspect was jumping fences and running from backyard to backyard. A Lyon County Sheriff’s Office K9 team was dispatched to the area and a K9 was deployed to a house in the 800 block of Reggie Way to search for the suspect.

The Sheriff’s Office K9 pinpointed the suspect to a backyard and deputies were able to locate the suspect and place him under arrest. No injuries to the deputies or the suspect were sustained during the incident. The suspect was identified as 24-year-old Matthew Hamlet of Dayton. He was found to be in possession of illegal drugs as well as keys that were linked to at least one of the burglaries and were stolen.

Lyon County detectives took over the investigation and developed information on another suspect, identified as Nicholas Wofford, a 28-year-old Dayton resident. Interviews were conducted with both Hamlet and Wofford, and they both subsequently confessed to seven burglaries in the Dayton area, according to the news release. Numerous items of stolen property were recovered by detectives and the cases are still under investigation.

The Sheriff’s Office is urging anyone with information about these burglaries to contact the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office - Special Investigation Unit at 775-463-6600, or Secret Witness at 775-322-4900.

Hamlet was booked into the Lyon County Jail on the following charges: Resisting arrest; Trafficking Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine; Obtain / Use Other Person Identification; Felony Warrant Arrest on Failure to Appear after release of Bail; Possession of a Forged Instrument (Forgery); Commercial Burglary; Conspiracy to Commit Burglary.

His bail is set at $ 193,640.

Wofford was also booked into the Lyon County Jail on the following charges: Commercial Burglary; Conspiracy to Commit Burglary; Possession of Stolen Property.

His bail is set at $ 127,500.