Sled tracks lead Erie police to burglary suspect

Erie police said sled tracks left in the snow led officers to items stolen in a burglary at a westside residence on Monday morning.

Matthew S. McClure, 28, was arraigned late Monday night on charges including burglary, criminal trespass, theft and receiving stolen property in the burglary at a residence in the 2000 block of West 29th Street that was reported shortly before 7:30 a.m. on Monday.

McClure is accused of breaking into a garage at the West 29th Street residence and stealing various items, including tools and hunting gear, according to city police detectives and information in McClure’s criminal complaint. Investigators charge that McClure also stole a sled from the garage and used it to transport the stolen items.

Police officers who responded to the reported burglary were able to follow tracks made by the sled to a residence in the 2900 block of Hampton Road, less than two blocks away, where the officers found the burglary victim’s items inside a garage and inside a residence by the front door, Erie police Detective William Bailey wrote in the criminal complaint.

McClure was in the Erie County Prison Tuesday on $25,000 bond on the charges in the burglary and on a parole violation. Authorities said he is under investigation in another recent burglary in the Erie area.