A Schuylkill County man who police say they found sleeping on the back porch of a home under construction said the impact drivers found inside his backpack weren’t those of the homeowner but from “Jerry in the blue van” on Pottsville’s East Side.
Christian Norman, 32, is charged with misdemeanor receiving stolen property, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, and summary defiant trespass. He appeared before Magisterial District Court Judge James Reiley Monday morning for his preliminary hearing, at which he represented himself.
Police say they were called to a home in the 400 block of W. Market St. in Pottsville on July 31 by the property owner, Benny Santiago. Santiago, an immigration and veterans lawyer from Florida, appeared at Monday’s hearing and testified that he arrived at his home and saw Norman sleeping on the steps to a back porch. There was peeled electrical wire next to him.
Officer Stephen Delinko testified that a search of Norman revealed drug paraphernalia, including a wax package with Yosemite Sam printed on it – commonly used to hold fentanyl or heroin – as well as a backpack. He also had two Dewalt impact drivers in a backpack.
While Delinko said Santiago said the drills were his, Santiago said one was his. Norman, however, had a different story on the drills’ orgins. He told Reiley that he’d gotten the drills from “Jerry in the blue van” from the East Side of the city.
Norman said he didn’t know Jerry’s last name or how he knew him but said the man – who lived in a garage behind the A-Plus [actually, the 7-Eleven] – had loaned him the drills to do some work. He said Jerry would have testified to that but he couldn’t be found because he’d recently been evicted from the garage.
He only explained his presence at that W. Market St. building by saying that he was waiting for someone to come pick him up to go work on a car but fell asleep.
“I just got (the drills) right before that,” Norman said.
Assistant District Attorney Andrew Bench questioned Norman on his recalling of the events that day, asking “So someone you don’t know just gave you tools?”
“Yeah,” Norman replied.
Reiley further asked how he’d ended up at that specific property. Norman said he was told to wait there by someone else, who he didn’t name.
Norman admitted that the drug paraphernalia on him during the search was his. “I’m an addict who is homeless,” he said.
He denied having stripped wire next to him and said a fence that was cut was already that way when he arrived.
Reiley bound all charges against Norman for Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas. The judge did not modify Norman’s $15,000 bail after it was revealed that he had nowhere to go and that there was an active Protection From Abuse order against him filed by family members.
Two Other Defendants Waive Right to Preliminary Hearing, Homeowner Confronts One Suspect
Also charged in the case were two people that police say were either in the building or entered the building without permission while they were on the scene.
John Sadusky, 58, of Pottsville, was inside the building when Santiago called. As police were on the scene, they say Karen Lieberman, 65, also of Pottsville, came into the home. Both are charged with third-degree felony criminal trespass. They each waived their right to a preliminary hearing on Monday. Both were released from Schuylkill County Prison later Monday after having their bails reduced to unsecured by Reiley, with the OK from Bench.
While in the lobby of District Court awaiting a temporary return to jail – because inmates are technically recommitted to jail before getting released on bail – Santiago confronted Lieberman and said “Stay out of my building” as he left the building. That led to a brief verbal confrontation with Lieberman.
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