LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
Robert G. Dooley, 41, of Paris, was found guilty by a jury of his peers during a trial in the Edgar County Courthouse on Tuesday, June 9.
The guilty verdict for four individual counts, including possession of burglary tools, criminal damage to property, and burglary, was delivered after only 30 minutes of deliberation. Following the verdict, Dooley was taken into custody and will remain there until his sentencing, currently scheduled for July 16.
Dooley’s initial preliminary hearing happened on Sept. 15, 2025, where charges for residential burglary, two counts of theft, possession of burglary tools, burglary and criminal damage to property were filed by the state. The first count, residential burglary, was declared nolle prosequi by the state shortly before the trial.
As posed in Tuesday’s trial, Dooley was discovered by Paris police officers in the crawl space of a Paris residence on Aug. 23, 2025. Testimony given by officers at the trial stated that members of the Paris police department responded to a call in which an individual stated that, around 5 a.m., they had just returned from a camping trip and saw a moped and heard “banging noises” coming from the house.
According to further police testimony, multiple officers arrived on the scene and inspected the residence, which appeared abandoned. While searching the residence, the officers detailed that they noticed several pieces of piping missing as if it had been “stripped” or “harvested.”
While inspecting the attic of the building, officers were tipped off that there may be someone in the home’s crawl space. Further investigation led officers to discover Dooley in the crawl space, along with several pieces of copper piping.
After initially requesting assistance from a K-9 unit and being denied, officers entered the crawl space and removed Dooley, placing him under arrest.
Additional testimony given for the state stated that evidence acquired at the scene included a moped Dooley claimed he had borrowed from a friend, which housed a milk crate containing various tools, including a sawzall, and Dooley’s cellphone.
After four witnesses and multiple pieces of evidence, including several body-cam footage videos, were showcased by Edgar County State’s Attorney Philip Dobelstein, the defense took the stand, represented by Daniel Arbogast.
Arbogast’s argument, and later Dooley’s, was that no fingerprints were taken at the scene of the alleged crime and that they could not tie Dooley to any crimes.
According to the defendant’s own testimony, the moped Dooley had been borrowing from a friend, and driving around town, had been stolen earlier in the morning on Aug. 23, along with his phone. In response to the theft, Dooley told the jury that he borrowed a friend’s phone, “threw on clothes,” and went to find his belongings. He said that is how he arrived at the residence early that morning.
Dooley claimed to have arrived at the home “moments before” the police. Upon arriving, he said he had located the borrowed moped and his phone but was concerned when he saw police officers arrive at the scene, due to “previous arrests.”
Dooley said he went into the crawl space beneath the residence to avoid contact with police.
After testimony, Edgar County Judge Mark Isaf turned the case over to the jury, which deliberated for around 30 minutes. When the jury returned to the courtroom, it delivered a guilty verdict on all four counts.