Police file charges against man in two area break-ins
Police have filed charges in two area break-ins against a Fayette County man already in prison for his alleged involvement in a string of burglaries in August and September. State police Trooper James A. Pierce said Joshua E. Hall, 27, of Uledi was charged Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge Wendy D. Dennis with attempted burglary and criminal mischief for breaking into the Pizza Hut at Oliver Square in North Union Township Sept. 9, 2007.
Additionally, Hall was charged Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge Joseph M. George Jr. with burglary, theft and criminal mischief for breaking into the 19th Hole bar in South Union Township and stealing cash and alcohol Sept. 30, Pierce said.
The break-in Sept. 30 at the 19th Hole is the second set of charges filed against Hall for breaking into the Route 21 bar.
In October, Hall, along with four other Fayette County men, was charged with three counts each of theft, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy as well as two counts of burglary in a string of burglaries in the region in August and September.
Also charged in connection with the thefts were Scott Alan Dancer, 30, of Uledi; Benjamin J. Hall, 29, of Uniontown; James R. Ansell III, 30, of Fairchance; and Dominick Polito, 50, of Uniontown. According to Pierce, the prior charges against Joshua Hall stem from three burglaries beginning with a heist Aug. 31, when he and Dancer allegedly broke into the Carmike 4 Cinema at Laurel Mall on Route 119 in Dunbar Township.
The men broke the glass front door, damaged several video games in the lobby and stole a change machine from the theater, Pierce said.
Joshua Hall and Dancer then took the machine to Dancer’s home on Playford Road and stole about $1,300 from the machine. The pair then dumped the machine in a wooded area in Uledi, police said.
Pierce said a second burglary was committed Sept. 7 when Joshua Hall, Benjamin Hall and Dancer broke into the 19th Hole. Pierce said the men stole various alcoholic beverages from the bar and then fled the scene.
About two weeks later, Pierce said Joshua Hall and Ansell allegedly stole a 1998 John Deere Gator, an all-terrain vehicle used for work purposes, owned by William Kenya of North Union Township, from a location on Wendy Drive.
Pierce said Joshua Hall and Ansell then sold the vehicle, which is valued at $9,000, to Polito for $500.
Joshua Hall remains in the Fayette County Prison on $40,000 bond.