Former N.C. man charged in burglaries
A former North Carolina man who was already facing charges stemming from Donegal and Smith township burglaries in July is now facing more charges on similar allegations involving previous heists in Washington and nearby counties within the last year.
State police issued an arrest warrant in the new case on Wednesday, accusing Karon L. Smith, 32, of conspiring to steal motorcycles, dirt bikes and ATVs from locations in Moon and Rostraver townships, as well from Xtreme Sports in Donegal and Tri-State Powersports in Slovan. Court papers list an address in Greensboro where Smith previously lived and one for his girlfriend in Pittsburgh, but no current residence for him.
A court official said the case with the additional charges will supersede the one initially filed in the break-ins on July 23 in Donegal and six days earlier in Smith. He is free on $25,000 percentage bail in the first case.
The other burglaries occurred at All Pro Motorsports in Moon on Jan. 8, 2019, Triple A Motorsports in Rostraver on March 24, and West Hills Honda in Moon on April 22.
“The modus operandi (MO) were (sic) consistent throughout these burglaries, which typically involved multiple actors, breaching a glass door, stealing multiple motorcycles/dirtbikes, ATVs, and utilizing a U-Haul box truck to transport the stolen motor vehicles,” the troopers said in court papers.
Those previous charges would be withdrawn and included in the newer case, the court official said.
Troopers who filed the charges wrote that Smith was allegedly involved in taking the vehicles and transporting them from the sites of the burglaries in a rented U-Haul box truck. The goods were valued at $151,400. Police reported about $14,500 in damage at the stores, mainly from broken glass doors.
Police cited phone records placing Smith in the area of at least two of the burglaries and showing an exchange in which he arranged with another man to rent a U-Haul for one of the jobs. Police also cited surveillance footage and other people who police said were involved in renting U-Hauls or helping to carry out the thefts as part of their evidence of Smith’s involvement.
The state attorney general’s office is prosecuting. Court records for the first case list his attorney as Kimberly Furmanek, who couldn’t immediately be reached on Thursday afternoon.
Smith is charged with involvement in a corrupt organization, burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, theft and criminal mischief.