Pocono News Section

String of Weekend Burglaries in Central PA

String of Weekend Burglaries in Central PA - Monday, March 17, 2008 at 5:30PM EST

Reported by: Jeremy Deebel
Monday, Mar 17, 2008 @05:30pm EST
Central Pennsylvania-

Over a two hour span Sunday afternoon, state police say three burglaries were committed and a fourth was attempted, all within a 25 mile radius.

The first burglary happened around 2:45 at the Staples store on Route 15 near Lewisburg. Six desktop computers, with a combined value of over 6700 dollars, were removed from a locked steel cage and taken out the back door. State Police Trooper Matthew Burrows said, "It wasn't small enough to where they just walked by and put it in their pocket. They had to make some effort, and likely they had some pre-planned notion of how they were going to complete this theft."

About 30 minutes later, a burglary was reported at the Best Buy store near the Lycoming Mall in Muncy Township, where various electronic items were removed from the store's warehouse, again with a total estimated value in the several thousand dollar range. The burglars here were described as two black males in blue jeans, one in a black jacket, the other wearing a black hoodie. "When they were in there it was during the day, so there were people in there doing legitimate business," Trooper Burrows added.

Next, at about 3:55 on Sunday afternoon, a black male was spotted in the storage room of the Staples store, along East 3rd Street in Loyalsock Township. It is not believed that the man got away with anything from this store, but he was spotted leaving the scene with another black male, similar in description to those mentioned in the previous burglaries.

Finally, State Police at Montoursville say a black male removed several large screen televisions worth a total of over six thousand dollars from the storage area of the Office Depot store just a few blocks away, again on East 3rd Street in Loyalsock Township. Police believe the man's accomplice was waiting in a vehicle behind the store. "When they exited the store, whether it be the front or the rear, they had to leave in some type of vehicle that somebody saw,” Burrows explained.

Due to their close proximity in time and location, police are investigating the likelihood of the burglaries being connected. If you were in one of these stores on Sunday, or have any information on these burglaries, you are urged to call State Police at either the Milton or Montoursville barracks.