It’s been a busy few days for state police, who report several theft investigations.
One of those thefts involved a break-in at a barn and the theft of a rifle from a vehicle in Conemaugh Township last Thursday. Police say a thief stole a water pump and a table saw from a barn along Clarksburg Road, and smashed the driver’s side window on the victim’s pickup and stole a New England Remington .243 caliber Winchester rifle. The victim is a 30-year-old Clarksburg man. The thief fled in an older white Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 357-1960.
The second theft was also in Conemaugh Township, and in this case, a suspect was identified and jailed. It was discovered last Friday afternoon, and again the suspect vehicle was an older Jeep, which police say was a 2005 model. Two televisions, a satellite TV receiver, a leather jacket, and a pair of boots were stolen from the Leech Avenue home of a 68-year-old Saltsburg man.
Police do not identify the suspect, but court records indicate a single charge of theft was filed on Saturday against 40-year-old Ryan Alan Irwin of Black Lick. He also could face charges of Driving Under the Influence of Drugs after he was found slumped over the Steering wheel in a car parked at the Route 22 Sheetz in Burrell Township on December 17th. He was arrested at that time on suspicion of DUI. He was arraigned before District Judge Guy Haberl in Indiana, who set bail at $5,000 and released Irwin to the Cover Forge Behavioral Health Center, a treatment facility in Williamsburg for addiction, substance abuse, and mental health.
A third case involved an Indiana man who police say took tools from a Rayne Township construction firm but after the theft was discovered, he returned the tools and the owner declined prosecution.
