The Indiana State Police Criminal Investigation Division has arrested a 34-year-old woman from Elkhart County following a three week investigation into multiple burglary charges stemming from alleged crimes against rural Amish residences in western LaGrange County.

According to Detective Jeff Boyd, a “pattern of burglaries” in LaGrange County occurred during late July and into early August in which Marylou Ann Richards, 34, of Elkhart County was alleged to have targeted members of the Amish Community while they attended church on Sundays.

At least two residences were burglarized using limited force at which time, the houses were rummaged through and items such as cash, checks and credit cards were taken primarily. A break in the case came when a home owner confronted Richards, who was asking for directions, and obtained the license plate of the vehicle she had been in.

Richards was stopped by the Middlebury Police Department back on Aug. 15 for a traffic violation and was arrested on outstanding warrants out of Goshen and Elkhart city on unrelated charges and is currently being held in the Elkhart County Jail.

This morning, Richards was served with an arrest warrant for two counts of burglary, both class B felonies from LaGrange County as a result of Boyd’s investigation.

Agencies assisting in the investigation included the LaGrange County and Elkhart County Sheriff Departments, the Middlebury, Millersburg and Shipshewana Police Departments.