Tyrone Police arrested 26-year-old Jeremy Verdon Mountz, of 321 W. 18th Street, on burglary and other charges stemming from an incident last week.
The incident involved a type of crime that Tyrone Police Chief Joseph Beachem said has been on the rise recently in the borough. Tools are being stolen from unlocked garages, sheds, unlocked vehicles and items left unsecured in the beds of pickup trucks. In addition to such incidents in Tyrone, state police have reported similar crimes in the townships surrounding the borough.
In the incident last week, Tyrone Police said one of their officers was flagged down by a woman at the Oak and Columbia Street intersection around 5:15 p.m. last Friday, according to information in a police complaint.
The woman said a man was standing on her porch when she exited her residence. She said the man asked to use her phone because his car had broken down at DJ’s Bar. The woman handed the man her phone and walked away from the porch.
The complaint explained when the man handed the phone back to her, the woman pressed redial and realized he had never made a call. As the man left the property, he pulled a book bag out of some bushes. While the woman and the officer were speaking they noticed the man described by the woman walking down Oak Street.
Police made contact with Mountz after observing he was carrying a book bag, a black box and other bags. The officer knew the man’s identity as Mountz and asked him where he had obtained the items he had. Mountz said he does odd jobs and work for a timbering company and that was why he had a chain saw in his possession.
The officer asked if he could see what Mountz had in the bag. Mountz pulled out a box containing a drill. The officer also took note of a plastic box with the words “Black and Decker” on it and noticed an open bag containing an amplifier for a stereo.
The complaint explained Mountz claimed the amp belonged to the stereo in his car. He said his car was disabled and he removed it so would not be stolen. He told police that the car he was using was his girlfriend’s. The woman was contacted and she said did not own a vehicle.
At that point, police detained Mountz and discovered a man’s name and phone number on a piece of paper in one of the bags. They contacted the man who was out of town at the time. He told police where he lived. He was asked if he owned any power tools and he said he did including a chain saw and Black and Decker tools. The man agreed to return to the area immediately to identify the items and Mountz was placed in custody.
Police also learned of other items in Mountz’s possession while he was in custody and he was transported to the Tyrone Police station, according to the complaint.
Police then went to the Adams Avenue address of the man they had contacted and met with him. The man said he and his wife had left the residence and shut their garage door but had not locked it. The garage door was found open and the man said some items in it were out of place and cabinets in the garage had been open.
Written statements in the case were obtained including one from a man who said he saw a man checking several garage doors on his block. The witness said he saw a man enter a garage on Columbia Avenue and could see him in it. He said the man left without taken anything. Later, the witness lost sight of the man, but when he saw him again he was carrying items that matched the description of the ones Mountz had in his possession.
Mountz was arrested on charges of burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. He was arraigned before an on-duty magisterial district judge last Friday and placed in the Blair County Prison in lieu of $25,000, 10 percent bail.
Chief Beachem said Mountz's preliminary hearing was continued on Tuesday and is now scheduled for next Tuesday.
Beachem said he is working in conjunction with the state police regarding similar incidents in the area. He said police are “strongly investigating” if some of the same individuals are responsible for the crimes.
Tyrone Police have previously advised residents to secure their tools by locking garages, sheds and vehicles and by not leaving them in open areas such as porches or unsecured truck beds.
