Unity man accused in theft of relative's $100K coin collection

A 19-year-old Unity man is accused of stealing a relative’s $100,000 coin collection, intending to trade it for marijuana, according to court papers.

Troopers said Alec S. Curran, a senior at Greater Latrobe Area High School, initially denied taking the gold, silver and platinum coins in February but later admitted to the thefts in a second interview with police this month.

Curran’s relative had been adding to the collection that he initially received in 1985 and stored the coins, which had an estimated value of about $100,000, in a safe inside his residence, police said. During the probe, the owner provided troopers with copies of receipts for coin purchases made over the past 37 years.

Trooper Joshua Wiskeman said the owner went into his safe Feb. 4 planning to retrieve a specific coin.

“Upon opening the safe, (the owner) discovered the entire collection was removed along with a gold necklace,” Wiskeman said.

The man believed Curran might have been involved.

After questioning Curran in February, he volunteered to take a polygraph test, Wiskeman said.

Investigators reported in court documents that Curran made “incriminating” statements during the polygraph test March 8 and agreed to a second interview the next day.

During the second interview, Curran claimed he planned and participated in the theft with two unidentified high school classmates “sometime in February,” Wiskeman said. Curran told Wiskeman the classmates offered to exchange with him “five large bags of marijuana” in return for the coins.

Trooper Stephen Limani said Monday that no charges are expected against the two teenagers implicated by Curran and that Curran never received any marijuana.

The coins have not been recovered. Curran claimed in a recent police interview that he had no information where the coins are.

Curran was arraigned Sunday on one count of theft by unlawful taking and was ordered held in the county jail on $50,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled March 28. Curran did not have an attorney listed in court documents.