CLEARFIELD – A DuBois man accused of trying to burglarize a home while he was out on bail for another burglary was scheduled for court this week.
Torry David Gonzales, 34, was supposed to plead guilty in his original case where he and two others were charged with removing guns and other property worth more than $68,000 from a DuBois home sometime between June 28 and June 29.
Instead, on Tuesday he decided to withdraw his plea for a two-year minimum sentence. His bail of $10,000, which he posted in December was revoked and he remains in the jail.
On March 3 he waived his right to a preliminary hearing on new charges of criminal attempt/burglary, criminal attempt/criminal trespass, loitering and prowling at nighttime, criminal mischief and simple assault. His bail in this case is $50,000.
According to the affidavit in the new case, on Feb. 21 police were called to a DuBois residence to investigate an attempted burglary. The victim told police a neighbor saw a man trying to “kick in the door” at the rear of his home.
When the victim checked this area, he saw a man kneeling down, trying to gain access into the rear door. The victim confronted the man, shoving him down the stairs and away from the door. The man then pulled an object resembling a knife, causing the victim to flee and try to find something to defend himself. The burglar then fled the scene.
An officer spotted a man matching the description of the man the victim saw, kneeled down at a fence by Census Metering. When he tried to make contact with this man, he fled. The man, later identified as Gonzales, was found hiding underneath a porch at another residence.
The criminal complaint in the first case details how an investigation led police to a Spring Avenue residence June 30 where they apprehended Torry Gonzales.
Gonzales was bending half his body inside a vehicle to avoid the officer. The officer requested he show his hands, but he did not comply and kept bending over the back seat of the vehicle. He was then placed under arrest.
When the vehicle was searched, officers said they found a sawed off shotgun of the same type stolen in the burglary, where Gonzales had been reaching. In the front seat they found a backpack with items missing from the burglarized home.
When police knocked on the door of the residence, it was shut in an officer’s face, according to reports. Because it was believed other suspects were inside, police evacuated the area and waited for a search warrant. When police entered the home, it was discovered to be empty.
Additional items including two safes were recovered from the DuBois Manor Motel in a room rented by Gonzales, police said. A search warrant served on luggage owned by Travis Gonzales uncovered more items taken in the crime.
Among the things stolen were the victim’s credit cards. Police were able to review security footage of the transactions on the cards on June 30.
In one of these, officers saw Torry and Travis Gonzales purchasing items at Martin’s Grocery Store and in other footage Travis Gonzales and Rikki Lee Stephens using the card at the Dollar General Store in Brookville.
Travis Roy Gonzales, 32, formerly of DuBois, and currently an inmate of state prison, pleaded guilty in December to burglary and access device fraud. He was sentenced by Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to 29 months to five years in state prison.
Rikki Lee Stephens, 22, currently an inmate of the county jail, also pleaded guilty in December to burglary and theft by unlawful taking. She was sentenced to seven months to 14 months in the county jail and two years consecutive probation.
Each of them was ordered to pay almost $8,900 in restitution.
Also accused in this case is Savannah Marie Johnston, 19, DuBois, who is charged with a felony count of receiving stolen property, and misdemeanor tampering with/fabricating physical evidence and false reports.