JOHNSON CITY -- Two people who crawled into a drainage ditch to hide from police were flushed out by a dog from the Broome County Sheriff's Office.

The two and a third defendant were in Broome County Jail Wednesday without bail after arraignment in village court.

The incident started around midnight Tuesday when officers from the Johnson City Police Department reported a burglary in progress. Lt. Darren Hannon said officers observed what they believed to be a light from a flashlight in the rear window of East Coast Terminal at 44 Corliss Ave.

The four-story structure is described as an old factory building that's home to a number of businesses. Most of the upper floors are abandoned and in disrepair, with structural holes in the floors and debris, officials said.

Johnson City police surrounded the building and called the Broome County Sheriff's K-9 Patrol. Deputy Al Bennett and the German Shepherd Torre responded. Police requested the Johnson City Fire Department respond with its thermal imaging camera.

Torre and the officers entered the building through a 4-foot-high opening on its south side. The search zigzagged through the building, police said.

Torre alerted officers to the end of a pipe, 3 feet in diameter, some 3 to 4 feet off the ground, Bennett said. He shined his flashlight in the pipe and discovered a man in a prone position about 50 feet down the crawl space. A second man was discovered hiding behind him.

A subsequent investigation revealed the two had entered the building with the intent of stealing copper pipe, said Johnson City detective Lt. David A. Smith.

The pair -- identified as John R. Jones, 22, of Pleasant Valley Road, Groton, and James P. Zimmer, 27, of Rockefeller Road, Richford -- were taken into custody at 1:39 a.m. They told police they hid because they were scared and didn't want to get bitten by the dog, Bennett said.

Police later arrested Bambi Sherwood, 21, of North Wood Road, Freeville. She is accused of being the driver for the pair.

All three were charged with third-degree burglary, a felony.