Man gets four years in prison for burglarizing a grandmother’s house

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WASHINGTON C.H. — A 35-year-old man is in prison after burglarizing a grandmother’s home for jewelry, coins, and prescriptions, and stealing a rifle and a shotgun from a home in Greenfield.

Steven J. Garufi, of Washington Court House, appeared in Fayette County Common Pleas Court Monday and was convicted and sentenced on the two cases.

In the first case, Garufi plead guilty to four charges of burglary, each a second-degree felony. Eight other charges in the indictment were dismissed by the state. He received four years in prison for pleading guilty to the four charges of second-degree burglary. He was ordered to pay restitution to the victim in the amount of $1,550.

The charges were filed against Garufi in March. A Washington Court House resident reported to police in late February that they thought someone had been entering their grandmother’s house and removing items.

Over the course of the previous three months, between November and February, several jars of change, a jewelry box, and prescription medication were reported missing from the house. The caller told police they believed someone had been entering their grandmother’s house to take the items out of her bedroom. According to reports, a door on the first floor was unlocked.

Then in February, police were dispatched to a house on West Circle Avenue and found a man lurking inside a detached building. The man was identified as Garufi. He had a pair of rubber gloves in his hand and a used hypodermic needle in his pocket, according to reports.

Garufi was taken to the police department and questioned. According to police, a detective located, “via LEADS Online,” multiple pieces of pawned jewelry that matched the description of the stolen jewelry that Garufi had pawned at a shop in Grove City. He admitted to stealing the jewelry.

The other burglary case was filed against Garufi in May after an investigation into a Greenfield burglary.

According to reports, a resident on Barrett Road reported someone had came into their home while they were gone and removed coins and firearms.

The victim allegedly knew who Garufi was and named him as a suspect.

The resident gave the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office the serial numbers for the two stolen firearms. The “LEADS Online” system located the serial numbers and showed that the guns had been sold by Garufi to pawn shops in Washington C.H. and Columbus.

Garufi plead guilty to burglary, a felony of the third degree. Eight other charges were dismissed by the state in that case. Garufi was ordered to be sentenced to one year in prison, to be served consecutively with the other burglary case, for a total prison on both cases of five years and two months.

Following sentencing, Garufi was conveyed to prison by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office to commence the remainder of his sentence. He was given 98 days of jail time credit for days already served on the charges in the Fayette County Jail.

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By Ashley Bunton

[email protected]

Ashley may be contacted by calling her at (740) 313-0355 or by searching Twitter.com for @ashbunton

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