It began late Wednesday morning, with a break-in at a storage building on route 68 just outside Lubeck. The business's owner noticed a blue vehicle leaving the scene...and tried to catch both the vehicle and its occupants.

"The owner of the property was trying to chase them," Sgt. Dave Westfall of the Wood County Sheriff's Department said. "The blue vehicle rammed their vehicle and hit a gas main. The victim notified us by cell phone that they were trying to chase them."

That resulted in a search involving a sheriff's department helicopter, search dogs, and boats from the city of Parkersburg and the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, along the Ohio River off route 891.

"I think the amount of dense vegetation helps them try to elude the police and the sheriff's department," says DNR Law Enforcement Officer Chris McKnight.

Police say the trio quickly made their way to an abandoned lock house. They hid their vehicle inside the structure, and quickly fled on foot. But it was the vehicle deputies first discovered when they arrived on the scene.

"To get the vehicle inside the building, they literally had to back it up to get it in the building," Deputy Westfall said. "We were fortunate Deputy (Mike) Deem actually checked the place out like he did to catch them."

The three had bond set in Wood County Magistrate Court before being transported to the regional jail.

31-year-old Steven Mandrell is being held on $15,500 bond.

Besides breaking and entering of a storage building, Mandrell is also charged with assault during commission of a felony and violating a protective order relating to a separate incident.

37-year-old William Hutson, Junior and 29-year-old Joseph Hutson are both charged with breaking and entering.