A Roca woman called Lancaster County Sheriff’s deputies on October 2 to report someone stole $100,000 worth of gold, silver and platinum bars from her home. Chief Deputy Ben Houchin says they learned her daughter’s live in boyfriend, 37-year-old Mathew Hodges, was the suspect.
“Some of the items he had stolen were pawned in Lincoln. We also learned that he left the area and he was down in Florida where he continued to pawn some of these bars.” Houchin says they caught a break in the case last Thursday in another state.
“Thankfully, in South Carolina they have license plate readers.” Those cameras send a real-time alert to law enforcement when a stolen car or known wanted suspect from another state’s crime database is detected.
“We learned where he was and officials in South Carolina located him and placed him under arrest.” Houchin says Hodges is awaiting extradition back to Nebraska and also has a history of forgery in Hall and Cherry Counties.
(Photo: Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department )