Franklin County Prosecutor Press Release

Posted on 10/13/2010

Defendant: Benjamin Rike, Monika Settles, Norman Rike

Prosecutor Ron O’Brien announced that the Franklin County Grand Jury has returned a thirty-three count indictment, involving three individuals, two of whom were allegedly involved in a string of home burglaries that happened between August and September 2010 on the north side of Columbus. Benjamin J. Rike, age 23, was indicted on thirty counts, including Burglary, Attempted Burglary, and Receiving Stolen Property. Rike’s girlfriend, Monika J. Settles, age 21, was indicted on sixteen counts, also including Burglary, Attempted Burglary, and Receiving Stolen Property. Rike’s father, Norman F. Rike, was also indicted on one count of Obstructing Justice and one count of Tampering with Evidence, for a total of two counts.

According to O’Brien, over a months time, there were twenty-one burglaries reported that happened between midnight and 6:00 am that occurred while the victims were in their residences. Property stolen ranged from purses, wallets, lap tops, I-Pods, cameras, check books, credit cards, keys, ID’s, cash, and personal items. In the same time span in the same areas, there were eight attempted break-ins, however the suspects were deterred by dogs, alarms, people, or locked windows. The suspects were picked up on security video at different locations using the stolen credit cards, which was aired on television on September 19th, 2010. Both Benjamin Rike and Monika Settles admitted their involvement in the burglaries. Arraignment for Benjamin Rike and Monika Settles is set for October 15, 2010, at 1:30 pm in courtroom 1A. Arraignment for Norman Rike is set for October 27, 2010, at 1:30 pm in courtroom 1B.