An Orwigsburg man was jailed on burglary charges after items were reported missing from a plastic fabrication company in Pine Grove Township.
State police at Schuylkill Haven identified Jeremy C. Hess, 37, of 413 W. Market St., as a suspect in a series of thefts in September at Meridian Precision Inc., 80 Roberts Road.
In paperwork filed in district court, Trooper Kyle F. Brands said he was dispatched Sept. 28 to the 50,000-square-foot facility and met a group of people associated with the business, including the owner and a former employee.
The employee told Brands that the business had been burglarized three times since Sept. 23. He suspected the burglar entered through a loading dock that did not completely close.
The next day, Brands said, another trooper investigated a recent burglary at Dean Klinger Auto Parts & Recycling near Pine Grove. Brands said the trooper found an aluminum box there that had been taken from Meridian Precision; a sales receipt indicated the item had been sold by Hess on Sept. 25.
The state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation installed a camera inside the Meridian building. A man, later identified as Hess, was seen on the surveillance footage, according to Brands.
On Oct. 10, the former Meridian employee told police that he saw additional property from the company in a garage at Klinger Auto Parts. Three sales receipts, totaling $298.45, showed that Hess had sold the items to the business.
Hess faces charges of burglary, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, theft, retail theft, intentional possession of a controlled substance and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was arraigned Nov. 22 by Magisterial District Judge David J. Rossi, Tremont, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Source: Berkshire mont