Brothers charged in Greensburg Puff n Snuff burglary

Two brothers are facing charges in connection with one of two burglaries earlier this month at the Puff n Snuff store in Greensburg.

Joshua L. Jording, 33, and Cory L. Jording, 24, both of Latrobe, were arrested after Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies serving unrelated arrest warrants found them with bags of cigarettes and lottery tickets at a hotel room where they were staying.

Charges of burglary, conspiracy, theft and related offenses were filed against them by city police last week in connection with the Jan. 3 incident and both waived their preliminary hearings. Greensburg Police Chief Shawn Denning said one of the suspects likely will be facing additional charges related to the Jan. 1 burglary at the same location.

The second burglary was reported at 6:30 a.m. Jan. 3 at the Greensburg Shopping Center on East Pittsburgh Street. Video surveillance showed two men inside the store, one putting items in a garbage bag while the other appeared to be a lookout, according to court papers. The pair fled during a rainy morning, one of the suspects wearing red shoes.

About $2,500 worth of cigarettes and scratch-off lottery tickets were taken, police said. After surveillance images of the burglars were posted to the department’s Facebook page, tips poured in identifying the suspects as the Jording brothers. A witness told police the red shoes belonged to Cory Jording, but his brother was wearing them in the surveillance image, according to court papers.

When they were located by sheriff’s deputies, police said there were bags of cigarettes and lottery tickets in their hotel room as well as wet clothing that matched the outfits the suspects were wearing in surveillance video, according to court papers. The cigarettes found were listed as inventory stolen from Puff n Snuff on Jan. 1 and 3, police said.

During the Jan. 1 burglary, just one man was seen on surveillance images taking merchandise. That person was wearing yellow shoes. The witness said the shoes belonged to Joshua Jording.

The brothers are being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on $50,000 bail each. Formal arraignments are scheduled for March 15.

Both suspects have had several previous run-ins with law enforcement.

Joshua Jording previously was arrested after burglarizing a cab company in Unity while wearing a sweatshirt with his first name written on it. He was sentenced to two to 23 months in jail and 1 year of probation, according to online court records.

Cory Jording was arrested after a report of car break-ins in Greensburg and running from police in Latrobe. He was wanted at the time on another escape charge related to fleeing from a court-ordered placement for adjudicated youth. He was sentenced to a jail term in those cases.