Neighborhood watchdog

On Tuesday (April 28), a concerned citizen flagged down Butte County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brian Evans to report some suspicious activity—he’d witnessed three men removing property from a Melvina Avenue home in Palermo and loading it into a white Cadillac, according to a BCSO press release.

The car was gone when Evans arrived, but the deputy found the home had been forcibly entered and ransacked. He broadcast a description of the car, which another deputy immediately spotted—filled with property from the home—pulling into a residence on Lincoln Avenue in Oroville.

The car’s occupants—Anthony Skelly, 29, Samuel Smiley, 25, and Sean Smiley, 21—were arrested for residential burglary and possession of stolen property. The younger Smiley also had two warrants, and Skelly was additionally charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.