Staff writer
Two Canonsburg men were in Washington County Jail after police say they were caught breaking into a vehicle parked off Boone Avenue in North Strabane Township.
Robert W. Labossiere, 19, of 425 East St., and John Gary Pecharka, 36, of 1231/2 W. College St., were arrested by North Strabane police on charges including criminal conspiracy, theft, receiving stolen property and loitering and prowling at night. Pecharka also was wanted on a bench warrant.
Brian Bedillion was delivering the Observer-Reporter on Boone near Cherry Street early Sunday when he saw two men identified as Labossiere and Pecharka inside a pickup truck that didn't belong to them. When Labossiere and Pecharka saw Bedillion, they fled on foot.
Bedillion gave police a description of the two men. Township police were joined by Canonsburg police in searching the area.
North Strabane police Officer Eric Spicer found Labossiere and Pecharka inside a doorway at an automobile repair shop on Arch Street at South Central. The men were smoking a cigarette.
Police said Labossiere and Pecharka denied being involved in the theft, but both had scratches and grass stains on their clothing and appeared to be nervous. Bedillion identified them as the pair he saw in the truck.
Labossiere fled on foot when he learned police were going to take him into custody. He was apprehended on Fountain Street by Canonsburg police Officer Nate Terling. Police used pepper spray to subdue him. Pecharka was arrested without incident.
The owners of the pickup truck, Morgan and Stacey Gray, initially thought only a wallet had been stolen. Police found items including jewelry, a video game console, a cell phone and other items hidden in the weeds near the body shop.
Pecharka told police that he had had too much tequila to drink that night.
Both men were arraigned before District Judge Jay Weller and placed in Washington County Jail on $3,000 bond each.