James Richard Ward, 21, of Ottawa, was arrested charges of burglary, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Magistrate Court of Boone County.

According to the complaint, Cpl. L. J. McClung, of the West Virginia State Police, took a statement from a woman whose purse was stolen from her home.

The 79-year old woman told the officer that she could not find her purse and said she was sure she had brought it into her house after returning home from the store.

The victim stated that she “dreaded the hassle of canceling her accounts and getting her new license because she had just had to do that a few months back,” the complaint stated.

According to the complaint, her purse had become missing from her house a few months prior to this second occurrence, at a time when she had a lot more cash.

She told officers there had been no signs of forced entry and that they usually kept the doors unlocked while they were home.

During the investigation, another burglary in the same area resulted in an arrest. The suspect in that case was questioned and confessed that he and James Ward had broken in and stolen the purses out of the woman’s home, according to court documents.

Ward confessed to the crime, stating that he had entered the home on three different occasions, stealing money and jewelry from the home, according to court documents.

Ward told officers that he used the money to buy drugs, more specifically, the purchase of Oxycontin.