A Blairsville man was taken into police custody last night charged with theft from a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm without a license.
State Troopers were called out to North 4th Avenue in the Chevy Chase section of White Township, and were informed by the victim that their car alarm went off and notified him that someone had broken the side rearview mirror off his SUV that was parked on the street. Police were able to follow footprints in the snow from the SUV to a Jeep parked nearby, and found the suspect, 20-year-old Frank David Romano of Blairsville, asleep in the front seat. As police took him into custody, they found a loaded 9mm handgun in the Jeep near Romano’s right leg. The Jeep was actually registered to a 34-year-old Indiana woman who was contacted by police about the incident and told them that Romano was not allowed to be near her Jeep. Troopers followed his footprints to a third car in the area, owned by a 67-year-old Indiana Woman, and found one of the doors open slightly. The woman reported that three CDs and the vehicles documentation were stolen from her car.
Romano was charged with firearms not to be carried without a license, theft from a motor vehicle, criminal trespass and criminal mischief, and was placed in Indiana County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.
