Appomattox man charged in Campbell County invasion

At least one Appomattox County man is facing charges in connection to a home invasion in Campbell County on Tuesday evening where an elderly woman was gagged and her house ransacked, officials said.

Capt. L.T. Guthrie said deputies obtained an arrest warrant for Donald Eugene Collier III on Wednesday, but he was not in custody Wednesday evening.

Guthrie said at about 5:15 p.m., three male suspects arrived at the home on Marshall Mill Road, off of U.S. 501 near Gladys, and approached an elderly male resident outside the house.

The suspects, Guthrie said, claimed they were taking a survey for a school system, and one carried on a conversation with the resident, distracting him so the other two could enter the house.

Once inside, Guthrie said, the two other suspects gagged the man’s wife, forcing her into the house’s bathroom while they rummaged through the house.

The suspects fled the scene in a white Chevrolet pickup, Guthrie said.

Later Tuesday evening, an Appomattox County deputy noticed the truck on Red House Road (Virginia 727), Guthrie said, but the subjects had fled on foot, leaving the truck running.

Officials searched the area, even using the state’s Med-flight III helicopter, Guthrie said.

The sheriff’s office received a report that the suspects had been picked up and taken from the scene in a white vehicle, Guthrie said.

The investigation led to officials obtaining the warrant for Collier, charging him with robbery and abduction, Guthrie said.

He said officials have identified a second suspect, but no warrant had been issued Wednesday evening.

In March, another elderly couple was bound and robbed at their home north of Rustburg, off of U.S. 501.

Christopher Bryant Nowlin and Delphine Yvonne Scott, of Gladys, were charged in that incident.