Former employee charged after break-in at Delmont convenience store

A former employee of the Sunoco station in Delmont was caught breaking into the store late Wednesday, according to borough police.

John A. Balistrieri, 61, of Greensburg Street in Delmont was charged with burglary, criminal trespassing, prowling and disorderly conduct, after police said he used an employee key to unlawfully enter the building, at the corner of Route 66 and Manor Road, shortly before midnight Wednesday.

“He broke in through the side door,” Delmont police Chief T.J. Klobucar said. “This is the second time this has occurred, and this time we caught him in the act.”

After an Oct. 3 break-in that took place around the same time of night, Delmont police were sitting in the Delmont Plaza on Wednesday night and noticed someone entering the convenience station’s side door. After calling Murrysville police for backup, officers knocked on the door and told the individual to come outside, according to court records.

“He was holding a dry mop and no mop bucket, and the floors were not mopped,” Officer Richard Stephens wrote in a criminal complaint.

Balistrieri told police the store’s owner “wanted him to mop the floors and cut the grass.” Stephen said Balistrieri had been fired from his job at the Sunoco in September, and the owner had told police that he was not allowed to be inside the store.

Surveillance video showed Balistrieri pushing open a locked office door with his shoulder before police responded, according to the complaint. Police observed damage to the office door along with a black tossle cap, gray gloves and the key Balistrieri used hidden under a box in the restroom.

Unable to post bail, Balistrieri was taken to the Westmoreland County Prison. He has an Oct. 18 preliminary hearing in District Judge Charles Conway’s Export court.

An attorney for Balistrieri was not listed in court records.