LOCK HAVEN - Two suspects in a burglary spree that resulted in a loss of $41,916 in property for local governments and businesses remain jailed as they move through the county court system.
Robert Benjamin Seese, 26, of Jersey Shore, waived the right to a preliminary hearing in Clinton County Central District Court Tuesday, in connection with a multitude of charges connected to a series of break-ins that occurred between April 1 and Nov. 27, 2010.
Both Seese and his co-defendant in one or more of those break-ins, Christopher Richard Dullen-Lucas, 23, of Blanchard, who was arraigned Tuesday, remain in the Clinton County Correctional Facility in default of $50,000 cash bail.
The next legal step for Seese is either first-call or arraignment in Clinton County Court. Dullen-Lucas faces a first-appearance hearing in central court next week.
State police at Lamar said both men were involved in breaking into four township municipal buildings, and several businesses and stealing items valued at $41,916.
The municipal buildings were located in Bald Eagle,, Liberty, Curtin and Beech Creek township. Dunkle Transport, JC Graphics, Central PA Tent Rentals, Dotterer Equipment and Tip Top Knotch Landscaping were listed as the victimized businesses.
Police said they interviewed Dullen-Lucas about the burglaries and Dullen-Lucas told officers he and Seese had discussed the break-ins casually before actually committing themselves to the acts.
On Sept. 10, he said, he and the defendant were coming back home from a strip club when they passed the Liberty Township building and decided on a break-in.
Narratives by state troopers of the crimes, derived from a number of criminal complaints and affidavits:
At the Liberty Township building, in a "spur of the moment thing," the two pulled behind the building and Seese used a pickaxe to smash out a window as Dullen-Lucas acted as lookout.
Seese opened a garage door and grabbed a drive socket and tap and die tool set, along with a concrete saw.
Seese broke his key in the ignition of his vehicle, and went back into the building to steal a pair of needle nose pliers to turn the key, then fled the scene.
- According to police, officers were investigating the burglary at the Bald Eagle Township building April 11, 2010, when Trooper Michael Flook received a telephone call from Sara Seese, saying she received a call from "this number" and was calling back to see what the caller wanted.
Trooper Flook told Ms. Seese that the number she called belonged to the township building.
A trooper interviewed the woman about the two calls she received, and after being told the building was burglarized, said she believed the caller was her brother.
Ms. Seese said several other telephone calls from her brother had him saying "You need to fix this" and suggesting she tell troopers she made a mistake.
- On Sept. 22, Dullen-Lucas and Seese again used a pickaxe to open a door, this time at the Beech Creek Township building. Dullen-Lucas said Seese came out of the building with gloves and two flash lights, then walked across the drive to another building, where he smashed a window open, then came out with a lock box and some sodas.
- The same evening as the Beech Creek Township break-in, Dullen-Lucas said, the two drove to another township building in Marsh Creek, where Dullen-Lucas grabbed a tool box and two tool belts while Seese tried to get a building open. Dullen-Lucas said Seese started handing him weed eaters and pressure washers to load into the vehicle.
The two broke a motion-detection light, but continued on to the municipal building where they loaded various tools into Seese's Jeep.
The two then took the property to a house in Lock Haven and stored it in a basement.
- The at 1:30 a.m. the same night, Dullen-Lucas said, he and Seese went to the Russell Stone Quarry and used bolt cutters to get through a steel wire barrier to the road.
The two came upon a trailer or camper, and found some oil drum pumps and hand tools, then drove further up the road, and discovered an electric pump attached to a diesel tank, which they grabbed as well.
- At 2:30 a.m. the same night, the two went to Dunkle Transport in Mill Hall, found a door, and Seese used a bar on the ground to pry the door open. Dullen-Lucas stayed by the vehicle, but received a text message about 15 minutes later to come to the door and help load property into the vehicle.
The burglary at Dunkle Transport netted a number of losses, including a laptop computer, scanning tool, power hammer drill, impact tool, power tool battery charges and batteries, a circular saw, a fluorescent light, a reciprocating saw, three cordless lights, an angle grinder, a nine-inch Dewalt sander-grinder, another reciprocating saw, a gas powered generator, a digital camera, a bottle jack, a 30-ton hydraulic jack, a 20-ton hydraulic jack, all valued at $18,944.
- On Nov. 27, 2010, Karl Walizer Jr., the owner of Dotterer Equipment received a phone call indicating a burglar alarm had gone off at his business, police said.
Walizer, who lives next door, saw a person in a coat with the hood up walking around the building. He and his father, Karl Walizer Sr., entered the building, searched it with Cpl. Kevin Patterson, who was passing by, but found nothing.
On Nov. 30, 2010, a relative found a laundry bag on the property. The bag contained a Dell laptop computer and other items belonging to the business owner.
On Dec. 1, 2010, Dullen-Lucas was interviewed about six other burglaries in Clinton and Centre counties, and Dullen-Lucas said he talked to Seese, and Seese told him he was the individual walking around the Dotterer building.
- Between April 1 and 30, 2010, police said, Seese sold a Stihl weed eater to Jose Louis Gonzales Lucas for $60 while he worked with the defendant at Pizza House Restaurant.
An ongoing burglary investigation revealed that the weed eater was the product of a burglary at Tip Top Knotch Landscaping.
- The burglary at JC Graphics resulted in a loss of a Dell laptop, a security key program a Vector Art Mega collection disc, and a digital camera, all valued at $1,949.
- The burglary at Central Pennsylvania Tent Rentals resulted in the theft of a Honeywell combination safe, a check ledger, $2 in currency, a credit card, computer discs and two cases of four-inch folding knives for a loss of $984.
