CLEARFIELD – A former Woodland man pleaded guilty Tuesday for his involvement in the break-in of a laundromat and Pennsylvania Skills machine.
According to police, in the early hours of Feb. 2, 2020, Derek Zane Chadd Prince, 36, of Houtzdale, got on to the roof of the laundromat at the Hyde Uni-Mart where he unscrewed a hatch and entered the building through the ceiling.
Once inside, he broke into a 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, 44, had dropped him off in the alley.
During a special sentencing court on Tuesday, Quigley was sentenced to nine months to three years in state prison by Judge Paul Cherry for conspiracy/burglary and criminal use of communication facility.
The sentence will run concurrent with Quigley’s current federal prison sentence of 70 months for conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine as part of a larger drug ring bringing drugs into central Pennsylvania, according to a press release from U. S. Attorney’s Office.
The affidavit in the burglary case details how police traced a dark-colored Dodge sedan with a burnt-out headlight seen in a surveillance video to Quigley.
The vehicle had actually been stopped by police about three minutes after the burglary near the scene of the crime.
Because of the burnt-out light, another officer had stopped the same vehicle while Quigley was driving and Derek Prince was a passenger. Prince was wearing clothes matching those worn by the burglar.
In an interview with investigators, Quigley claimed he and Prince had played Skills machines at another location after being stopped by police on the Clearfield Shawville Highway. He said he then dropped Prince off at a Mount Joy Road residence.
A phone found in Quigley’s vehicle showed seven calls between Quigley and Prince during the crime. Specifically, the times matched the surveillance footage and occurred between 1:50 a.m. and 3:08 a.m.
When police spoke with Quigley again, he admitted that Prince had planned to break into the business for “some time,” but he didn’t believe it was going to happen.
Prince had asked him for a ride and he dropped him off that night, he said. Later Prince called asking how to pull the electric meter and again asking if he should “go back inside to hit the other machines.”
Once Prince got out of the building, he called for a ride. Quigley then took him to a Turnpike Avenue residence, he told authorities.
In March of 2020, Prince pleaded guilty to burglary and criminal use of communication facility, and was sentenced to six months to one year in jail and four years consecutive probation.