The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office says they have broken up a burglary ring that has been breaking into homes and businesses in the western part of the county for much of the past year.

Three suspects, Nicholas Simon, 18, of Jeffersonville, Kyle Freda, 18, of Narrowsburg and Vandaryle Malone, 18, of Cochecton Center have been arrested and charged with various crimes.

Investigators got a major break in the early morning hours of December 14 when they responded to a car fire on State Route 52 in Lake Huntington. The Lake Huntington Fire Department and the Sullivan County Bureau of Fire Investigation quickly determined that the car fire was suspicious, and the investigation ultimately led to the three arrests.

The three suspects were charged with arson in the case of the motor vehicle, and also with the burglary of a residence at 47 Hubert Road in the Town of Bethel. Simon and Malone were charged with the burglary of a residence at 19 Esselman Road in the Town of Callicoon, which occurred in November.

The three suspects are also implicated in the May 24 burglary and arson fire of a residence at 350 Swiss Hill Road North in the Town of Delaware.

Sheriff Mike Schiff says his detectives are working with the NYS Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation to connect the suspects to other area burglaries, including the May 16 break-in of the 1906 Restaurant on Lower Main Street in Callicoon. Schiff said his deputies have recovered some of the liquor bottles that were taken in that incident.

Simon, Freda and Malone were arraigned before Town of Cochecton Judge Craig Fine and initially remanded to the Sullivan County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail or $20,000 bond. Two of the men were subsequently released on bail, with Malone still being held as of December 23.