At the May 14 regular meeting of Town Council, Middleburg Mayor Betsey Davis gave special thanks to the officers of the Middleburg Police Department and Police Chief Steve Webber for their outstanding contributions to a multiagency investigation resulting in the swift arrest and indictment of principals in a rare string of county-wide burglaries, assaults and other crimes, including at least one murder.

In March, ten businesses in Middleburg were burglarized, seven on one night, and three on another. The morning after the last string of burglaries in Middleburg, William Bennet was killed, and his wife brutally beaten near Lansdowne. In mid April, Loudoun guns in Leeburg was robbed.

By April 25 Loudoun County Sheriff Steve Simpson was formally announcing multiple arrests of suspects described as members of a large "criminal enterprise."

Sources close to the investigation indicated that the Middleburg police had identified suspects in the first string of seven Middleburg break-ins almost immediately and that the second string of Middleburg break-ins, characterized by significantly more destruction of property than the preceding seven, may well have been triggered by the swift and from the perpetrators point of view, distressing accurate police work done by the Middleburg force.

The entire council joined in Mayor Davis's praise for the force, and convey what all believed were the sincere thanks of the citizens of Middleburg.

"I would like to thank Sheriff Steve Simpson, the Sheriff's Office, Investigator Dave Crandall, and Officer Mike Prince with the Middleburg police department. I would also like to thank the Middleburg community for their support and assistance during this unusually stressful period," Webber said.