A Tarentum homeowner interrupted a burglary at his Corbet Street home Tuesday morning and then used his cellphone to call 911 after one of the burglary suspects threw the phone into a yard as the homeowner gave chase, according to police.
Joshua Michael Such, 19, of New Kensington and a juvenile whom police did not identify were taken into custody a short time later.
A criminal complaint filed in the case said the homeowner told police he came downstairs about 8 a.m. to find two people wearing black ski masks in his living room. The burglars fled the residence when the homeowner yelled at them, according to the complaint.
After going outside and seeing the pair walking without ski masks in the 400 block of School Alley, the homeowner again yelled at them, and they ran away. One of them ditched the homeowner’s cellphone while fleeing, the complaint said.
Police said they drove around the area with the homeowner, who identified two people walking in the 300 block of East Ninth Avenue as the burglars. One was taken into custody there, and the other was arrested on East Eighth Avenue, the complaint said.
According to police, Such was carrying items including $291 in cash, brass knuckles and a Xanax pill. The juvenile had $17 on him. A glass money jar belonging to the homeowner was found near where the pair was spotted on East Ninth Avenue, police said.
Such faces charges including resisting arrest, burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and possessing instruments of crime. He was taken to Allegheny County Jail after failing to post $10,000 bond, according to court records. Information about the juvenile’s charges was not available.
