A Youngwood man was charged Thursday after state police said he took $50,000 worth of guns, tools, coins and military collectibles from two abandoned houses, according to court papers.
George Raymond Weightman III, 43, told investigators he broke into the houses in Adamsburg and Hempfield to fund a drug addiction. He was jailed without bail on numerous counts of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property, criminal mischief and weapons violations.
He was being held at the Westmoreland County Prison.
State police arrested him Monday on two counts of receiving stolen property in connection with two guns reported stolen from the Adamsburg home. When they interviewed him in connection with those charges, Weightman admitted to breaking into the two houses that he knew were abandoned and directed investigators to locations where they could find some of the items, according to court papers.
Weightman told troopers he made several trips in and out of the Adamsburg home this year, taking guns, ammunition, coins and silverware sets. He later sold most of the guns and stashed 10 others with ammunition and pistol magazines in brush along Radebaugh Road in Hempfield. Police said they found the weapons there.
At a West Newton Road home in Hempfield, Weightman told authorities he took about 30 handguns, as many as 40 rifles and 12 pillowcases full of ammunition, according to court papers. At the house, police said they found a large amount of guns and ammunition still there along with Weightman’s belongings.
Troopers believe Weightman used several locations to stash the weapons, including two houses in Greensburg where authorities said 21 guns were found in a mattress. Six more guns were recovered from a man who had purchased them from Weightman for $700, according to court papers.
Notes related to numerous firearms were found in an RV parked at a Hempfield parking lot, police said. Photos on Weightman’s cell phone showed pictures of some of the guns that were reported missing from the Adamsburg home, according to court papers.
Two others were arrested during the weekend in connection with those guns.
Weightman was deemed a flight risk when District Judge Joseph DeMarchis denied bond Thursday. He has several other cases pending. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 28.
