Rock Hill man has 26 burglary convictions. Fingerprints led to a 27th charge

Vernard McFadden served two stretches in South Carolina prisons for burglaries.

Twenty-six burglaries, to be precise.

McFadden is now charged with burglary number 27 because of his fingerprints.

McFadden is back in jail after a property crime where a shotgun, a bowl filled with loose change and some food was stolen, police said.

McFadden’s fingerprints, which have been in the police and prison system for decades, helped catch him, according to arrest warrants. And if McFadden is convicted this time, he might never get out of prison.

McFadden is accused of breaking into a home at night. McFadden is charged with first-degree burglary, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison if he is convicted.

McFadden, 48, is charged with burglary and larceny after a home on Neely Store Road was broken into in October, said Trent Faris, spokesman for the York County Sheriff’s office. A Browning shotgun, $200 worth of food and a Pampered Chef bowl filled with change was stolen from the house.

The bowl was worth $15. Inside was about $25 in coins, the victim told police.

The door at the home had been kicked in, police said.

Detective David Vaughn, who worked the case, found McFadden’s fingerprints at the crime scene, according to arrest warrants.

When the prints came back with a match, detectives found that McFadden had 26 convictions dating back to heists in 1995 and 2004, according to records from the State Law Enforcement Division and court documents.

Among those convictions was a 2004 string of crimes in Sumter, near Columbia, in which McFadden broke into several homes and stole jewelry, electronics and other items.

“The suspect admitted before in court for many other crimes that he was a burglar and his fingerprints were found at the scene of this crime,” Faris said.

In both 1995 and 2004, McFadden was sentenced to 15-year prison terms for property crimes, SLED and court records show.

Last week, a York County felon with 25 previous property crime convictions was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing a power saw for his 26th conviction under property crime enhancement laws.

McFadden is being held at the York County jail on burglary charge number 27 under a $35,000 bond.

This story was originally published November 6, 2018 at 9:02 AM with the headline "Rock Hill man has 26 burglary convictions. Fingerprints led to a 27th charge."