Aug 25, 2010 By Josh Krysak 2 min read

A Dunbar Township man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly rerouted electric service to avoid paying for electricity at his home in 2009, eventually causing a fire. State police Trooper Timothy Kirsch said Raymond Martray, 66, was charged before Magisterial District Judge Dwight K. Shaner with risking a catastrophe and theft of services.

Kirsch said that the charges were filed after investigators discovered in December that Martray had rerouted electric service being supplied to his home.

Kirsch said volunteer firefighters and Allegheny Power employees discovered the bypass constructed by Martray when they responded to Martray’s residence on Adelaide Road for a fire Dec. 5.

Kirsch said that police discovered that Martray installed extra wires underground at his residence, bypassing his electric meter before the current entered his home.

He allegedly created the bypass in December 2008. Kirsch said that Martray had the underground line connected to a 150-amp meter box inside of his garage.

He said that the electricity was then routed into Martray’s home to supply electrical power.

That box then fed electricity to the main house, police allege.

As a result of the rewiring, Martray stole more than $2,000 in electricity over the course of the year, Kirsch said.

Martray will face a preliminary hearing before Shaner at a later date.

This is not Martray’s first run-in with the law.

In the mid-1970s, Martray and several other men were charged in a string of burglaries in the Connellsville area, where he was working as a police officer at the time.

He pleaded guilty to the charges in 1979.