Trials set for father and son accused of working with break-in crew
Jeffrey Arthur Schuh, Jeffrey Aron Schuh, Quang Nguyen, Steven Colwell
The court cases against the trio suspected of breaking into multiple homes in Washtenaw County during the summer continue toward trial despite plea negotiations.
According to court records, Jeffrey Aron Schuh, 20, and his father Jeffrey Arthur Schuh, 54, were in court for a pretrial hearing in front of Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Archie Brown Wednesday. Both will proceed toward a trial scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. May 6, records show.
They’ll both be back in court for a final pretrial hearing at 1:30 p.m. April 24, according to court records.
The father and son duo are accused of working with Quang Nguyen, 20, and Steven Colwell, 26, to break into homes in Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Township, Scio Township, Webster Township and Dexter Township during July and August. Colwell was arrested following a home invasion in August and testified against the other three.
According to Colwell’s testimony, he broke into nine houses with the younger Schuh and Nguyen. The elder Schuh served as a lookout on three of those break-ins.
Foreign coins, two-dollar bills, equestrian trophies, jewelry, silver goblets, electronics, cash, a guitar and custom-made brass bullets were among the items reported stolen by the crew.
Nguyen and his attorney, Ronald Gold, also were working on a plea deal at a pretrial hearing last month. He’s scheduled to return to court for another pretrial hearing at 1:30 p.m. March 13, according to court records.
Colwell pleaded guilty to five counts of second-degree home invasion and is serving between two and 15 years in prison.
Jeffrey Aron Schuh faces 16 counts of second-degree home invasion, two counts of first-degree home invasion, two counts of safe breaking and two counts of stealing a financial transaction device. Nguyen faces all those same crimes and an additional two counts of second-degree home invasion. They both face a maximum of life in prison on the safe breaking charge.
Jeffrey Arthur Schuh faces five counts of second-degree home invasion, one count of first-degree home invasion and two counts of stealing a financial transaction device.
All three are lodged at the Washtenaw County Jail.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Sue
Mon, Feb 18, 2013 : 4:32 a.m.
All children learn by the examples their parents set. Unfortunately this poor excuse of a father did not teach his son right from wrong, respect for others, or to obey laws. He did not help his son develop a healthy conscience to guide him in making good, moral decisions. The older Schuh should have to serve double the time for leading the younger Schuh down a path of crime.
CrimeVictim2012
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 6:02 p.m.
It is great that the plea attempt by Aiden (Quang Nguyen) was rejected last month since the charges against him are solid and numerous.
Bubba43
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 1:27 p.m.
Jeffrey looks like he's mad @ the world!
Surfwatch
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 2:46 p.m.
You can be sure he's mad at Steven Cowell for ratting him out.
HB11
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 12:47 p.m.
Still trying to figure out what the financial transaction devices were. I re-read previous articles, so are they just the stolen credit cards? If someone steals a smartphone with a bank app installed, it that considered a financial transaction device?
smokeblwr
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 1:58 a.m.
The horrific part of this story that has been mentioned in prior articles is that the younger Schuh would leave his feces in each of the houses they would break into as his calling card. How does THAT not show up as malicious destruction of property? I hope his toilet doesn't flush in his jail cell so he can enjoy his gifts.
TinyArtist
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 2:10 p.m.
Jail or a Carnival cruise -- it's a toss-up.
a2citizen
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 5:11 a.m.
Leaving feces in someones living room during a b&e is not as uncommon as you may think.
Silly Sally
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 3:01 a.m.
His "special" job in prison should be cleaning toilets. For extra credit, he can clean up after dogs in parks. Bring it on...!
Dr. Fate
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 1:03 a.m.
I can't get over how much each of those mugshots tells in its own right. The ruined old man, the cocky young punk, the scary intense guy, and the lost soul addict. Honestly though, from reading the development of this story, I kind of feel sorry for Colwell a bit. The others are rather frightening.
An Arborigine
Fri, Feb 15, 2013 : 11:44 p.m.
We're father and son, we do it all....
breadman
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 4:35 a.m.
Good job security
Milton Shift
Fri, Feb 15, 2013 : 11:15 p.m.
Life in prison for safe cracking, a ticket for texting behind the wheel. Do I even need to comment?
Milton Shift
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 4:51 a.m.
Yeah, the mandatory minimum prison sentence for "robbing" a bank (namely, passing a note that demands money and carries no threat, and not being armed, either) is 10 years in prison. Most murderers get less than that. You'll notice the crimes that are punished the most severely are those that most directly affect those with money and power.
Dr. Fate
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 1:04 a.m.
I never realized safe cracking on its own was such a major crime before these stories. Interesting.