A woman from Allegheny Township and her accomplice are charged with breaking into a house after she was evicted from the residence, police said.
Vandergrift police charged Lauren Renee Decapite, 35, of Rebecca Avenue with one felony count of criminal trespass in connection with the Dec. 30 incident. She is being detained in the Westmoreland County Jail after failing to post a $10,000 bond, according to court records.
She faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yacopec on Feb. 15.
Brandon Lee Sacik, 24, faces misdemeanor charges of defiant trespass and disorderly conduct after police accused him of assisting Decapite with the break-in.
His preliminary hearing also is scheduled before Peck Yacopec on Feb. 15.
Decapite and Sacik were arrested after Vandergrift officers responded to a 911 call at about 4:15 p.m. on Dec. 30 for a report of burglary in progress in the 200 block of Hancock Avenue, according to the criminal complaint filed on the incident.
The caller to 911 reported that he was watching the feed from a Ring doorbell camera remotely when he saw people entering the rear of the home, the complaint said.
When officers arrived, one of them saw a broken window on the back porch and a second officer spotted somebody inside the home while peering through a front window, the complaint said.
Nobody answered when officers repeatedly knocked and announced their presence, police said.
But when they went inside and began searching, they found Decapite trying to hide behind the furnace in the basement, according to the complaint.
Charges were filed against her and Sacik, who fled before officers arrived, after police reviewed surveillance video that “clearly shows the defendants…forcing the window open,” the complaint said.
After helping Decapite get through the window, the video shows, Sacik stood on the porch for several moments before following her inside the house, according to the complaint.
