Northeast Iowa Man Crashes Stolen Vehicle, Arrested on More Than Two Dozen Burglary, Theft Charges

A northeast Iowa man is facing over two dozen burglary and/or theft charges after he crashed the stolen vehicle he was driving.                                  

The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) says they began receiving reports of burglaries and thefts from vehicles in Hazleton about 2:30 am Thursday (03.26) morning.  About an hour later, BCSO received a report of a vehicle stolen from the 100 block of First Street South in Hazleton.

At about 5 am, BCSO received a report that someone tried to break into a vehicle in the 400 block in the 14th Avenue Northeast in Independence.  The caller said they scared the suspect away and provided a description of a suspect vehicle, which matched the vehicle reported stolen in Hazleton.

A BCSO Deputy located the stolen vehicle north of Independence and, after a second Deputy arrived, a traffic stop was attempted, with the driver lost control of the vehicle, which entered a ditch and rolled over.

The driver, identified as 40-year-old Michael Jon Rohrick of Oelwein, was transported to an area hospital with unspecified injuries sustained. He was later transferred to University of Iowa Medical Center in Iowa City, where, on Saturday (03.28), BCSO took him into custody.

Rohrick is charged with third-degree burglary and 12 counts third-degree vehicle burglary, all Class D felonies, plus one count of third-degree theft and three counts of attempted vehicle burglary, all aggravated misdemeanors. He also faces 11 counts of fifth-degree theft, all simple misdemeanors, and he was also cited for several traffic violations

BCSO also noted that Rohrick was also arrested Saturday on an active arrest warrant for third-degree theft and three counts of identity theft, all aggravated misdemeanors.  

Rohrick is being held in the Buchanan County Jail on $50,000 cash-only bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 8th in Buchanan County District Court.