2 Middletown men charged with aggravated burglary, abduction

Pictured are Lemond Chambers, 20, of Middletown, (foreground) and Keatrick Thomas, 19, of Middletown. They are charged with multiple felonies, including aggravated burglary and abduction. They are accused of an alleged home invasion where both men are said to have held a grandmother and her 12-year-old grandson at gunpoint. Both will be back in court at 9 a.m. on April 10, 2025. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

Pictured are Lemond Chambers, 20, of Middletown, (foreground) and Keatrick Thomas, 19, of Middletown. They are charged with multiple felonies, including aggravated burglary and abduction. They are accused of an alleged home invasion where both men are said to have held a grandmother and her 12-year-old grandson at gunpoint. Both will be back in court at 9 a.m. on April 10, 2025. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF
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Two Middletown men are charged with multiple felony counts for an alleged home invasion in January.

At 1:48 p.m. on Jan. 9, Middletown Division of Police were dispatched to a home for a reported robbery and home invasion. The victims, a grandmother and a 12-year-old grandson, were held at gunpoint, according to police records. They identified their assailants as Lemond Chambers and Keatrick Thomas.

The victims said the suspects forced their way into the grandmother’s home and demanded money.

Thomas was given a steep bond in Middletown Municipal Court based on the original charges of two counts of kidnapping and felonious assault, both first-degree felonies. A grand jury reduced those charges to two counts of abduction, a third-degree felony, and assault, a first-degree misdemeanor.

However, the grand jury elevated the aggravated burglary charge to a first-degree felony.

Pictured is Keatrick Thomas, 19, of Middletown, who's charged with multiple felonies, including aggravated burglary and abduction. His co-defendant is Lemond Chambers, 20, of Middletown, who faces the same charges as a result of an alleged home invasion where both men are said to have held a grandmother and her 12-year-old grandson at gunpoint. Both will be back in court at 9 a.m. on April 10, 2025. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

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Credit: Michael D. Pitman

Defense attorney Lawrence Hawkins, who represented Thomas in place of his attorney, Stephen Hurlburt, argued Thomas' bond of $990,000 was higher than appropriate for the crime alleged for a man with no prior record or contact with law enforcement.

“With all due respect to the court that set that (bond) previously, it’s pretty significant when there’s no dead body,” Hawkins said, explaining those charged with murder often have bonds at $1 million.

Assistant Prosecutor John Hatcher said it is “a significant crime” and told the court the 12-year-old “had a gun placed against his forehead,” and that he wanted a steep bond “given the violent of nature of what occurred, and also the flight risk that presents given what they’re facing.”

“They’re all serious (charges), but the high level charge is the aggravated burglary,” he said. “This was a home invasion by two armed individuals, threatening the occupants of the home with firearms.”

Thomas faces the same charges, but he is being held without bond in a separate legal matter, said his attorney, Jacob Long.

Pictured is Lemond Chambers, 20, of Middletown, who's charged with multiple felonies, including aggravated burglary and abduction. His co-defendant is Keatrick Thomas, 19, of Middletown, who faces the same charges as a result of an alleged home invasion where both men are said to have held a grandmother and her 12-year-old grandson at gunpoint. Both will be back in court at 9 a.m. on April 10, 2025. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

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Credit: Michael D. Pitman

Each man, if convicted, could face up to 11 years for the first-degree charge, and nine months to three years for each third-degree felony.

Long said his client is being held without bond due to an unrelated probation violation. He was charged with robbery, a second-degree felony, in 2023, and pleaded guilty to an amended charge to theft, a first degree misdemeanor.

That case is being heard by Common Pleas Judge Kelly Heile.

Butler Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth lowered Thomas’ bond to $500,000.

Thomas and Chambers are scheduled to return before Spaeth at 9 a.m. April 10. Chambers is scheduled to be back in Heile’s courtroom on April 29.

Pictured is Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in what's called the super courtroom at the Butler County Government Services Center at 315 High St., Hamilton. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

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Credit: Michael D. Pitman

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Michael D. Pitman has been a reporter in southwest Ohio since 1999. He's covered local governments in Warren and Butler counties, as well as state and national issues. He currently covers the cities of Fairfield and Hamilton.