COMO – A group of hunters have been credited for the arrest of five Chowan College students, all of which face felony charges for breaking and entering and larceny.

Hertford County Sheriff Juan Vaughan said Andrew Grant, a hunter from Snow Hill, observed what he thought was suspicious activity at a house owned by James Riddick III in the Como area.

&uot;Mr. Grant called the dispatcher, reporting that he had caught five people breaking in a house,&uot; Vaughan said.

Lt. Raymond Eure and deputies Steve Ashe and Montez Bishop responded to the scene, finding Grant – along with several other hunters – holding the five suspects at bay.

&uot;As Mr. Grant was approaching the suspects, he saw them throw some items in the trunk of a car. He also noticed the vehicle had Virginia tags.

&uot;Because Mr. Grant was familiar with the property and also knew there had been some theft problems here in the past, he immediately realized things did not look right. Then we he saw the suspects putting items in the trunk, knew something was wrong and did the right thing by calling law enforcement,&uot; Vaughan said.

The five people arrested were: Ryan William Leary, 19, of 112 Seymour Dr., Camden; James Christian Moore, 21, of 4154 Clinton, Rd., Fayetteville; Michael Vincient Mianulli, 20, of 3724 Cinnamon Dr., Hubert; and James Matthew Gibbons, 24, of 1102 Bluejay Lane, Richmond, Va.

All five were charged with felonious breaking and entering, felonious larceny, felonious possession of stolen goods and felony conspiracy.

They were placed in Hertford County Jail under $20,000 secured bonds each.

All the items were recovered.

&uot;We were lucky,&uot; Vaughan stated. &uot;I commend Mr. Grant and the other hunters. By being from outside the area, they could have easily just taken for granted what they were seeing was suppose to be taking place.

&uot;I thank them for taking the time to get involved and because of their concern, we have five suspects behind bars awaiting trial,&uot; Vaughan stated.

The five suspects were scheduled to make their first appearance in Hertford County District Court today (Tuesday).