Commonwealth Rests in Burglary Trial

Jerry Ritchey (Provided photo)

CLEARFIELD – The commonwealth rested its case yesterday afternoon after jurors heard from numerous state troopers about the surveillance of a suspected burglar and ensuing investigation into a spree of four burglaries that occurred in the Woodland, Philipsburg and West Decatur areas last summer.

Jerry L. Ritchey, 37, of Strattanville has been accused of burglarizing four area businesses the night of July 20–21, 2011. The burglaries allegedly occurred at the Bradford Township Municipal Building, Apex Hydraulics & Machine and D.C. Enterprises, both of Decatur Township, and T.L. Bainey Trucking of West Decatur.

Ritchey has been charged with four counts of burglary and criminal trespass and two counts of theft by unlawful taking and criminal mischief. On Aug. 15, he’ll stand trial for four counts of criminal solicitation for murder. He has been accused of plotting to kill his ex-wife and her boyfriend and his (Ritchey) girlfriend during his incarceration at the Clearfield County Jail.

Trooper Ted Warner, of the forensics services unit at the Punxsutawney-based state police, said he was assigned to process four burglary scenes on July 21, 2011 in the Clearfield area. He responded to T.L. Bainey Trucking, Apex Hydraulics & Machine, D.C. Enterprises and the Bradford Township Municipal Building.

Warner said it was clearly obvious that someone had broken into T.L. Bainey Trucking. He said that an office had been rummaged through with papers strewn all over. He said the suspect gained access to an upstairs office and rummaged through it, as papers were also strewn all over.

According to him, the suspect moved a desk chair over to the office window to flee the upstairs office. He said there was a footprint, which had a four-arrow tread, left on the chair. He said that similar footprints were observed by him outside the building.

Warner said the suspect pried open the back door to gain access to Apex Hydraulics & Machine. He said the desk and filing cabinet drawers and their contents had been removed and strewn on the floor. He said footprints were observed on the papers lying around on the floor, and it had a four-arrow tread like those observed in the outside driveway.

He also mentioned the kitchen sustained water damage. The suspect had removed the drain pipe from underneath the sink and turned the water on.

Then, at the Bradford Township Municipal Building, Warner said the suspect rummaged through township offices and the tax office. He said papers were strewn all over the floor, and on them, he observed footprints with a four-arrow tread.

He said at D.C. Enterprises, the suspect gained access after removing a garage panel. Inside the building, he observed a footprint, which had a four-arrow tread. He said the suspect rummaged through the building and things were strewn all over.

The footprints, according to Warner, had four-arrow treads at all four locations. He said these footprints were consistent with the black water shoes, which Ritchey purchased at the Clarion Wal-Mart store.

Warner said that on July 27, 2011, he assisted with two search warrants conducted on Ritchey’s residence and vehicle. He said water shoes, a pry bar and rubber-dotted gloves were among the items collected as evidence from the defendant’s Mazda. He said a backpack with tools was collected from the residence.

Cpl. Donald Cloak Jr. of the DuBois-based state police said that last July 20, Ritchey traveled to the Clearfield and Brookville Sheetz stores. He obtained and reviewed copies of the surveillance video and receipts from the stores. During his testimony, these were viewed by jurors.

Cloak said that Ritchey arrived at the Clarion Sheetz store at approximately 9:29 p.m. July 20. He purchased a flashlight, a fountain drink, a cup of ice, some candy and two pairs of gloves at 9:36 p.m. From there, he drove to the Brookville Sheetz store, where he purchased a sub, chips and candy at about 10 p.m.

Cloak also testified that Ritchey was observed in surveillance video on May 21 and July 17 at the Clarion Wal-Mart store. In the first instance, he was observed with his wife and their transaction included water shoes. This transaction occurred at 3:12 p.m., and they were observed leaving the store with water shoes in their shopping cart.

In the second instance, Ritchey purchased water shoes and gloves at 8:33 p.m. July 17. Cloak said these water shoes had the four-arrow design that was consistent with the tread marks observed by state troopers at the four burglary scenes.

On July 27, Cloak said he and Trooper David Ray of the Punxsutawney-based state police interviewed Ritchey at the Clarion state police barracks. Both troopers testified that Ritchey denied traveling to the Woodland, Philipsburg and West Decatur area the night of July 20-21. In addition, he told them he wasn’t familiar with any of the businesses, where the burglaries had occurred.

Both Cloak and Rey were present at the defendant’s arraignment at which time he asked to speak with them. He asked them if someone hypothetically committed 80 to 100 burglaries if it would be beneficial to admit to the crimes. They assured him that it would to which he replied, “Sorry guys, I can’t. I just can’t.”

In other testimony:

Jessica Harle testified to marrying Ritchey on July 6, 2011. According to her, they owned two vehicles, a Toyota and a Mazda. She said that on occasions Ritchey would drive her Mazda.

When questioned about the dates of July 20-21 of last year, Harle said she didn’t have any reason for remembering them. She said Ritchey usually began his work day around 7 a.m. and returned home sometime before 6 p.m., but this varied with him doing sales work.

In addition, she said on occasions Ritchey would supposedly be working between the hours of 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. He would then return home before she woke up, which also varied. She said, “I thought, ‘it’s a job. You do what you got to do.’”

Troopers Jared Thomas, James McIntosh and Michael Boltz of the Pennsylvania State Police testified about their surveillance of the defendant’s vehicle the night of July 20-21. Thomas used a GPS tracking device to monitor Ritchey’s travel in the Woodland, Philipsburg and West Decatur areas. He relayed these movements to McIntosh and Boltz, who were conducting undercover surveillance.

According to their testimony, Ritchey traveled to Clearfield and briefly stopped on Spruce Street in Lawrence Township. He proceeded to travel eastbound on U.S. 322 toward Philipsburg. However, he traveled back and forth in a continuous loop a number of times on U.S. 322.

Thomas said that Ritchey’s vehicle didn’t register any movement for lengthy timeframes near the burglarized businesses. He wasn’t moving from 11:28 p.m. to 2:05 a.m. on Geo Drive, which is located near D.C. Enterprises and Apex Hydraulic & Machine.

At approximately 1:55 a.m., both McIntosh and Boltz testified to hearing an audible alarm, where they were positioned in the area of Geo Drive. McIntosh said there was approximately 10 minutes between the alarm sounding and the GPS tracking picking up the defendant’s next movement.

In addition, Thomas said Ritchey’s vehicle wasn’t moving from 2:43 a.m. to 3:37 a.m. near T.L. Bainey Trucking on U.S. Route 322. Again, it wasn’t moving from 4:07 a.m. to 4:49 a.m. when it was positioned along Barrett Road in Woodland.

According to Thomas, Ritchey’s vehicle later was observed traveling westbound on Interstate 80 and McIntosh positioned himself for surveillance at the DuBois exit. He relayed to McIntosh when Ritchey was approaching the DuBois exit, and McIntosh followed the suspect’s vehicle until it reached an area along U.S. Route 322 in Strattanville.

At that point, McIntosh relayed Ritchey’s location to Ray, who was positioned at the defendant’s residence in Strattanville. Ray said he observed Ritchey pull in at his residence. Ritchey was wearing a white, cut-off T-shirt, shorts and sandals. Rey also observed a tattoo.

Ray said he’d driven up the alley and was within 15 feet of Ritchey and clearly identified him. He positively identified the defendant in the courtroom, as the suspect who he’d observed arriving at the Strattanville residence the morning of July 21.

Trooper William Mostyn, who is a criminal investigator with the Clearfield-based state police, told the jury he supervised the investigation of the four burglaries. He collected reports, surveillance and evidence from other assisting troopers, which resulted in him filing a criminal complaint against Ritchey.

The trial is scheduled through Thursday, but President Judge Frederic J. Ammerman advised jurors yesterday afternoon that the case will wrap up today.

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