The Penn Run man accused of going on a crime spree in southern Indiana County in November is scheduled to appear before Indiana County President Judge William Martin for Plea Court today.
36-year-old David Paul Dilts is charged with 31 criminal offenses, thirteen of them felonies, for breaking into homes and Conemaugh and Young townships. He’s accused of stealing a pickup truck from one home and a .22 caliber rifle from another. In the second incident, police say he assaulted a woman who arrived home during the break-in. Dilts then allegedly tried to break into another home but fled when a man inside the home threatened to shoot him.
The crime spree continued when Dilts crashed the stolen truck in West Wheatfield Township and then tried to hold up a man and steal his vehicle at a nearby home. But the man beat him up and disarmed him, and he ran away. He was finally captured four days later while walking along Twolick Drive in White Township.
Dilts is charged with five felony counts of burglary, two of them involving bodily injury to a victim. The other felony charges include three counts of theft, two counts each of attempted robbery and attempted reception of stolen property, and a single felony count of criminal trespass. There are also thirteen misdemeanor counts and five summary offenses.
If he does not appear for Plea Court today, Dilts is scheduled for a jury trial beginning next Monday.
There is also Plea Court today for 19-year-old Kylee Turner of Homer City, for retail theft, and Judge Martin will conduct a non-jury trial for 33-year-old Sarah Rose Erdley of Indiana, for contempt for violation of a court order or agreement.
