Staff writer
A man from Pittsburgh's Mt. Oliver section accused in almost a dozen daylight burglaries in six Washington communities will stand trial on burglary and other charges.
Jason Davis, 29, is accused of breaking into 11 homes between Oct. 14 and Dec. 22 in Chartiers, Cross Creek, Nottingham, Smith and Union townships. Items stolen in the burglaries included jewelry, firearms and cash.
Trooper David Vanderaar, who coordinated filing the charges against Davis with other state troopers and police from Chartiers and Peters townships, said that there were similarities among the burglaries. Break-ins were reported on Churchhill and Turkeyfoot roads in Peters; Gretna Road in Chartiers; Valleyview, Munntown and Sugar Run roads in Nottingham; Cooper Road in Cross Creek; Atlasburg and Maple roads in Smith; and Chevy Chase Road in Union.
"There was forced entry into all but one home, and the items stolen included firearms, cash and jewelry," Vanderaar said during Tuesday's preliminary hearing before District Judge James Ellis.
Another constant was a tan-colored Lincoln with a landau roof that was seen in the area of several of the break-ins.
One of the victims, Thomas Jereko of Munntown Road, reported seeing a car matching that description across the street from his home just before discovering it had been burglarized. Jereko said the car had Lincoln insignias on the brake lights. He also thought he saw a woman or small man inside the car.
Jereko told assistant district attorney Joshua Carroll that he had just come home with his wife one afternoon in mid-November. When they entered the basement, the couple's two dogs came downstairs.
"I asked her if she had left the basement door open," Jereko said. "My wife went upstairs and said you better come here. The slider door was hanging open."
"Then it clicked in my mind, so I ran outside but the Lincoln was gone," he added.
A car matching the description was stopped by Trooper Kevin Daerr, who asked Davis and his girlfriend, Jessica Gray, to go to the state police barracks for questioning.
Gray, 21, testified that she cooperated with police in the investigation. Vanderaar took her to the homes that had been burglarized and asked if they looked familiar. Gray said that she recognized almost all of them.
She said that she did not enter the homes.
"I'd knock on the doors to see if anyone answered. If they did, I'd ask for directions," Gray said.
Gray also testified that she did not see Davis enter any of the homes. She would drop him off and he would call when he was ready.
She said Davis sometimes would come out of the homes with bags. One time, she said, he carried a smaller, flat-screen television. Gray said that Davis had jewelry that he would have her take to pawn shops to sell. Vanderaar testified that shops in the Pleasant Hills area provided photographs of items reported stolen in the Chartiers burglary. Those items were sold and have not been recovered.
The Lincoln the couple had been in was identified by Jereko as the one seen near his home.
Gray said she has not been charged in the case nor had she been offered anything in return for her testimony Tuesday. Gray said that she and Davis have a 2-year-old daughter together.
Davis remains in Washington County Jail on $450,000 bond.