The body of Thomas Haskins was a day away from being cremated – and his closest kin didn’t even know he was dead.Police interrupted a church break-in early Sunday in Avilla and arrested two suspected burglars, the Avilla Police Department said in a news release.
About 12:30 a.m., Avilla Town Marshal Glen Wills responded to a report of two suspicious people, one possibly carrying a hammer, near Baum and East Albion streets.
Wills checked the area and found a broken window on the side of the Arc Church, 125 Baum St. Through the window, he could see two people, and when he confronted them, they fled the building, police said.
Wills and another officer chased the two on foot, catching them and taking them into custody without incident, police said.
One of the alleged suspects, Brenden Harris, 22, of LaGrange, was booked into the Noble County Jail and held without bail. The other, a 15-year-old, was taken to the Allen County Juvenile Center in Fort Wayne.
They both face charges of burglary and resisting law enforcement.
