CLEARFIELD – A Houtzdale man accused of burglarizing a local business by entering through the roof pleaded guilty Monday.
According to police, during the early-morning hours of Feb. 2, Derek Z.C. Prince, 33, got on to the roof of the Hyde Laundromat where he unscrewed a hatch and entered the building through the ceiling.
Once inside, he broke into a Pennsylvania Skills machine, removing the money. He then tried to break through a window to get out and was unable to do it. He climbed back through the ceiling and out again, as seen in surveillance footage.
Additional footage showed a vehicle traced later to Joshua Quigley dropped him off in the alley.
Because the vehicle had been stopped earlier that night, the police were aware the passenger, whose clothing matched the man in the video, was Prince.
In an interview with police, Quigley admitted he had dropped Prince off near the Hyde Uni-Mart.
A search warrant was obtained for the vehicle to find Quigley’s phone, which showed seven different phone calls between Quigley and Prince from 1:50 a.m. to 3:08 a.m. The calls matched the times in the surveillance video, according to the affidavit.
When Quigley was questioned again, he reportedly admitted Prince had been intending to commit this crime for a while.
Prince pleaded guilty to burglary and criminal use of communication facility on Monday before President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman when he was sentenced to six months to one year in jail and four years consecutive probation.
Quigley, 41, is also facing charges of conspiracy/burglary, conspiracy/criminal trespass, criminal use of communication facility and conspiracy/theft by unlawful taking. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 11.
For more information on this case, click here.
In a second case, Prince pleaded guilty to seven counts of access device fraud and theft by unlawful taking. He was given two years concurrent probation for this crime.
According to that affidavit, Prince used an access card seven times at Sheetz to buy milkshakes and other food, totaling over $100.
In a third case, Prince pleaded guilty to intentional possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia for which he was given one year concurrent probation.