Police: Delmont man claimed to be a firefighter as he tried to rob house

A Delmont man remained in jail Monday after police say he tried to rob a house over the weekend while identifying himself as a firefighter and medical personnel.

Charles Beiter, 33, is accused of forcibly entering a Mt. Pleasant home Saturday evening. He admitted to police that his plan was to get arrested and he was under the influence of marijuana and Adderall, a prescription drug commonly used to treat Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder , according to a criminal complaint. Police said he livestreamed the evening on Facebook.

According to the complaint, Beiter went back and forth between two township homes. Beiter was seen on home surveillance footage at the first, located off Route 819, around 3:45 p.m.

Officials said Beiter was seen trying to access the home. When confronted, Beiter allegedly said he was with a medical company, but that he could not discuss the specifics. Beiter was asked to leave and fled in his vehicle.

He then went to a home on Joyce Drive. A person in the house saw Beiter park his car in the driveway around 4 p.m. After leaving once, Beiter allegedly returned, identifying himself as part of a fire department and medical service.

When asked to leave a second time, Beiter fled the scene, officials said. The person at the house went outside to get the registration off Beiter’s vehicle. The person told police that’s when he noticed his car had been searched, noting that nothing was missing.

Beiter then returned to the first home shortly before 5 p.m. Surveillance footage shows Beiter trying to open the garage door through the keypad several times and a lower level door. A person inside told investigators that he saw movement on his porch and opened the door to confront Beiter, saying he was calling the police. Beiter once again fled.

Beiter was identified through the surveillance footage and vehicle registration, police said.

On his Facebook page, Beiter identifies himself as a former employee of the Jeannette EMS and fire department. Beiter worked as an EMT with the city until 2013 or 2014, said Randy Highlands, operations manager with Jeannette EMS. No issues were reported during his employment, Highlands said.

Beiter’s Facebook page also shows six videos posted Saturday.

The first posted at 4:21 p.m. and shows Beiter wearing a T-shirt with a logo of Grandview Volunteer Fire Department, located in Penn Township, as he walked outside Main Bowling Center in downtown Greensburg.

A post on the Grandview Volunteer Fire Department’s website states that Beiter is not, and has never been, a member of the department. Officials added that member are required to pass a background investigation and child abuse history clearance.

The other videos, posted between 5:44 and 7:18 p.m., appear to show Beiter inside his darkened car, seemingly making random comments and sometimes singing as he surfs radio channels and listens to songs from Green Day’s album “American Idiot” and the song “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” by The Offspring.

Beiter is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison after failing to post $5,000 bail. He faces 10 charges, including two charges of burglary, impersonating a public servant, theft from a motor vehicle, two charges of loitering and prowling at night and public drunkenness and similar misconduct, court documents show.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 23.