Woman faces felony charge after neighbor said she entered home while young son napped

Lower Burrell police arrested a woman after a neighbor accused the woman of entering her house without permission while her underage son was napping on the sofa.

Maren Leigh Burgess, 42, of the 200 block of Macbeth Drive was charged with a felony count of criminal trespass. She was being detained in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of a $10,000 cash bond, according to court records.

Burgess faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec on Aug. 2.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that Burgess told them her neighbor came to her front door “looking for a fight” before dragging Burgess down the small hill in her front yard and then repeatedly striking her in the head and face.

Police said Burgess did not have any bruises on the exposed parts of her body, and there was no dirt on the green tank top and black leggings she was wearing, the complaint said.

Emergency medical responders examined Burgess but said they did not find any bruises on her body, police said.

Police said a witness who lives in the neighborhood told them that they saw Burgess enter the house through a closed, but unlocked front storm door, the complaint said.

The woman who accused Burgess of entering her house said she was out when it happened but her juvenile son was at home, police said.

The boy told police he was frightened when he awoke from napping on the living room sofa to find Burgess standing in the room, the complaint said.

He told police he was “really scared” because he did not know Burgess.

Authorities did not say whether Burgess and the woman who accused her know each other.