BINGHAMTON, NY — Two people are facing 13 felony charges following a burglary and arson investigation in the Town of Binghamton that ended with a drone-assisted arrest.
Broome County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a burglary complaint on Edison Avenue at approximately 8:31 a.m. on Dec. 15.
The resident, calling from another location, told 911 dispatchers their security camera showed an unknown person wearing a backpack and mask inside the residence.
A responding deputy found fresh footprints in the snow, signs of a break-in and smoke billowing from inside the house due to an active fire.
Additional deputies and New York State Police troopers arrived and attempted to extinguish the fire with fire extinguishers from their patrol cars.
Members of the Town of Binghamton Fire Department successfully extinguished multiple fires that had been set throughout the house.
No one was found inside the residence.
Deputies identified multiple sets of fresh footprints at the residence, with one set leading south, uphill and into the woods.
While tracking the footprints, investigators located a cell phone, kitchen towels and other items as they followed the tracks east.
Sheriff’s office detectives deployed a drone, which detected heat signatures of an individual moving around a nearby residence on Woodside Avenue.
Deputies located Anthony T. Storti II, 37, of Conklin, about a half-mile from the Edison Avenue residence and detained him.
Storti was found to be in possession of narcotics and was transported to the sheriff’s office for further investigation.
A headlamp, a large blue duffel bag containing two sets of clothes, two garbage bags and a backpack were found on the property where Storti was located.
Investigators determined Storti entered the residence multiple times on the morning of Dec. 15 to steal various items.
After reportedly losing a vape inside the residence, Storti allegedly ignited multiple fires with tiki torch fuel he found in the residence to eliminate evidence of his presence.
A second individual, Allyson P. Russell, 24, of Endicott, was identified as an accomplice in the burglary and arson.
A search warrant was executed at Storti’s residence on Woodside Avenue, during which multiple stolen items were located and identified.
A large assortment of jewelry and personal items, silverware and a Ruger .22 handgun and .22 ammunition were found to have been taken from the Edison Avenue residence.
Multiple other illegal firearms were also located during the search warrant execution.
Storti was charged with burglary in the first degree, criminal use of a firearm in the first degree, arson in the third degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, grand larceny in the fourth degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree.
On Dec. 19, sheriff’s office investigators were notified that Russell had been taken into custody by state police as part of an investigation into a separate burglary incident.
Russell was charged with criminal use of a firearm in the first degree, burglary in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and grand larceny in the fourth degree.
