Arnold burglary nets at least 2 years in prison for West Leechburg man

A West Leechburg man was ordered to serve at least two years in prison for stealing nearly $44,000 of equipment from an Arnold landscaping business site last year.

Randy D. McGuire Jr., 32, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to burglary and other offenses in connection with thefts of tools and other items in Arnold and at the New Kensington site of Penn State’s new innovation and manufacturing lab along Fifth Avenue.

Police said McGuire served as a lookout during the November burglary at Shurina Brothers Landscaping in Arnold where a truck filled with tools that included chainsaws, mowers and other tools were stolen and later found in Plum.

Investigators said a tool box had been broken into at the New Kensington construction site.

As part of the plea deal finalized Wednesday, McGuire pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor criminal mischief offense as prosecutors dismissed felony burglary offenses in connection with the New Kensington break-in.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears sentenced McGuire to serve two-to-five years in prison for the Arnold burglary. McGuire was ordered to serve a concurrent three-to-12 month jail sentence in the New Kensington case.

Kevin Paul Pierce, 32, of Hyde Park, is charged with burglary and other offenses in connection with both cases. Pierce is in jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond awaiting trials in both cases. The cases are scheduled for trial later this month.