DUBOIS – A DuBois man accused of breaking into a Sandy Township residence and stealing several firearms waived his right to a preliminary hearing Friday during centralized court.
Matthew Alexander Basinger, 36, was originally charged with felony counts of burglary, criminal trespass and seven counts of theft by unlawful taking.
All of the charges, with the exception of the burglary charge, were withdrawn Friday. He is currently in the Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $5,000, bail.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the victim told police he left his residence to travel to Washington State on Nov. 18 and returned Dec. 9. When he returned to his Hedrick Road home, he discovered multiple firearms missing. There was no forced entry and he was unsure how someone had gained entry to the residence.
A neighbor told the victim that he observed a white pick-up truck with a cap at the home. Based on the description, the victim believed the suspect to be an employee of his construction company identified as Basinger.
The victim called a gun shop in Punxsutawney giving a description of the missing items and asking if Basinger had sold any firearms recently. Employees confirmed that Basinger had sold several guns to them on Nov. 23.
When police interviewed the neighbor, he told them he saw the white pick-up with a cap in the driveway and a male on the back deck of the residence. He didn’t think much of it because he had seen this man at the home before and believed him to be an employee there getting something for a job.
Officers were able to get a list of the firearms sold by Basinger at the shop in Punxsutawney and at another store in Clearfield.
Police interviewed Basinger Dec. 20 during which Basinger stated the victim, his employer, left to go to Seattle without paying his wages for the week.
He said the victim had inherited guns from his father and at another time, asked Basinger to sell several of them. Knowing the victim was out of town, Basinger said he went to the residence and entered the back patio door, which was unlocked. Basinger admitted he went there three or four times and removed five guns, according to the criminal complaint.
The total value of the items missing was estimated to be almost $6,000.