ROANOKE CO., Va. — A former Morgantown city councilman and upstart lawyer arrested in connection with a series of commercial burglaries in northern Virginia was granted a continuance in his arraignment.
Ryan Wallace, of Roanoke County, Va., had his initial arraignment hearing on Monday, according to the Roanoke County General District Court online database for four separate felony counts related to his alleged involvement in the burglaries.
Wallace was arrested at his home Thursday after police found items linked to several burglaries in his home as part of a multi-month investigation, according to news reports out of Virginia.
Burglary reports in Bedford and Roanoke Counties allegedly began in January, with detectives from multiple agencies using surveillance video images to identify Wallace as a suspect and obtain a search warrant.
Wallace was taken into custody without incident and charged with a number of felonies and misdemeanors.
According to Roanoke County General District Court, Wallace has been charged with eleven felonies and a misdemeanor, including five felony charges of entering a structure to commit a felony, two separate felony charges of wearing masks in certain places, possession of burglary tools, and felony destruction of property. He has also been charged with misdemeanor arson of an unoccupied building causing under $1000 in damage.
Wallace was elected as a third-year law student to represent the Third Ward in April of 2017 and declined to run for reelection in 2019, citing a lack of employment opportunities in the legal field in the Morgantown area, and announced a move to Toronto, Canada.
At the WVU College of Law, Wallace was named one of the top student leaders in the country by the National Jurist and was a two-time recipient of a Public Interest Advocates Summer Fellowship.
An arraignment hearing with a court-appointed attorney for the felonies granted a continuance on Monday will take place next week. Wallace will have another arraignment hearing for the eight remaining charges on Wednesday.
More charges could be pressed against Wallace in the near future.