Five Pottsville residents face charges after police say they recovered stolen plumbing and construction supplies inside an abandoned property on N. 2nd St. earlier this month.
Officers returned to a home in the 200 block of N. 2nd St. on July 9 to follow up on a report of people going in and out of the building, which police say they knew to be abandoned. Police went up to check an open window at the rear of the property and saw a man inside the upstairs apartment, later identified as Addison Hummel, 32, police say. As officers issued commands, they spotted three more people in the downstairs apartment – Gene Myers, 27; Ernest Erdman, 52; and April Beckford, 41 – and detained all four, according to police.
While searching the downstairs apartment, officers said they found numerous unopened plumbing and construction items in plain view, including kitchen faucets, water heater expansion tanks and assorted pipe fittings. Police allege the items matched property reported stolen in a burglary in the 200 block of N. 2nd St. Police valued the recovered items at $530.91.
Questioned separately, Erdman, Myers and Beckford each told police they knew the items were stolen. Police also say Beckford had previously been warned she would be arrested if she returned to the property, which was posted with a no-trespassing sign.
During a search of Myers, officers said they found a bag of weed, a glass smoking pipe and a syringe.
Myers and Beckford told police that a fifth man, Derik Ferreira, 28, was responsible for bringing the items to the building. Officers spoke with Ferreira around 9 p.m. that evening. Ferreira allegedly admitted his role was to act as the “middle man,” transporting the parts to a scrap yard to be sold for money, and said he had moved the items less than a week earlier in a gray Kia SUV. He knew the items were stolen, Ferreira told police.
Myers faces the most counts: a first-degree misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property, along with counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and criminal trespass. Erdman and Beckford are each charged with receiving stolen property and criminal trespass. Ferreira is charged with a single count of receiving stolen property. Hummel, who was in the upstairs apartment, faces only a count of criminal trespass.
All five were charged by summons and are scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing Aug. 24 before Magisterial District Judge James Reiley.
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