A 57-year-old man is accused of scaling a fence and slipping into the attached garage and sallyport at the Mifflin Township Police Department not once, but three times over three consecutive days, making off with more than $1,600 worth of departmental gear before investigators used the station's own surveillance footage to track him down. Kelly Smith now faces three felony burglary counts tied to the break-ins at the precinct on Agler Road near East Linden.
According to a court affidavit cited by NBC4 WCMH-TV, an unidentified man first entered a secured area of the police building on July 31 by climbing a fence into the attached garage and sallyport. Surveillance footage showed him returning to the building again on August 1 and August 2, according to the same report. Investigators say the stolen haul included an air compressor, a medical bag, cleaning equipment and a department uniform shirt, with the total believed to be worth $1,650.
The Mifflin Township Police Department used surveillance footage from its own headquarters to identify the suspected thief, per the court affidavit referenced in the NBC4 report. A Franklin County court issued an arrest warrant for Smith on August 28, and he was arrested two days later, on Sunday. A Franklin County judge has since assigned him a $75,000 bond and scheduled a preliminary hearing for September 9.
A Department Still Reeling From a Shooting
The break-ins land at a difficult moment for the small department, which patrols nearly four square miles of unincorporated Franklin County and serves an unincorporated population of over 4,000 residents, according to Mifflin Township. Just two weeks before Smith's arrest, 23-year-old Daveonte Dixon was sentenced on August 17 to 78 to 89 years in prison for shooting two Mifflin Township officers during a May 2025 traffic stop on the same stretch of Agler Road, as 10TV WBNS reported. Hoodline has previously covered that case, including Dixon's court appearance after the manhunt.
The police headquarters at 2455 Agler Road shares its building and grounds with Mifflin Township Fire Station 132, according to the Mifflin Township Professional Firefighters. The department has also faced staffing strain beyond the shooting's aftermath: the Franklin County Sheriff's Office notified local officials in October 2025 that it could no longer maintain dedicated overtime deputy patrols to support the township's coverage, according to a report from 10TV WBNS.
Why a Garage Break-In Became a Felony Case
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 2911.12, burglary is classified as a second- or third-degree felony depending on whether an occupied structure is entered when people are present or likely present, carrying prison terms ranging from one to eight years and fines up to $15,000. Ohio law draws the line at unlawful entry into a secured structure with criminal intent rather than the dollar value of what's taken, according to a legal explainer from Jay Perez Law, which is why breaking into a police garage and sallyport resulted in three felony counts rather than a misdemeanor theft charge.
Smith's case will now move through the standard track for felony charges originating in township jurisdictions: an initial appearance and bond review in Franklin County Municipal Court, followed by a preliminary hearing to determine probable cause for a grand jury indictment, per a criminal-process overview from Luftman, Heck & Associates. That hearing is set for September 9.
The break-ins are also not the first time property crime has hit the area. In January 2021, suspects used an SUV and a logging chain to rip an ATM through a building wall in a commercial burglary on Johnstown Road, less than two miles from the Agler Road precinct, according to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office. Meanwhile, the broader Mifflin Township area carries a median household income of $57,037 across 37,863 residents, per 2024 U.S. Census Bureau data, and sits along a corridor that Columbus City Council recently approved for up to $1.87 million in resurfacing and infrastructure improvements.
