Seven men charged in theft of stuffed bear
Uniontown police have filed charges against seven Fayette County men for their alleged roles in the theft of a stuffed Russian bear from a Uniontown bar last month.
Officer Dave Hromada said charges were filed Monday against Nathan Allen King, 23, of 80 Highland Ave., Uniontown; Jarred Hackney, 23, of 48 Lawton Ave., Uniontown; Justin Edward Nelson, 21, of 650 Bitner Road, Dunbar Township; John Freed, 23, of Menallen Township; Jordan Lonigro, 20, of 59 E. Highland Ave., Uniontown; William Gordon III, 24, of 18 Orchard Camp Drive, Chalk Hill; and Andrew Schiffbauer, 25, of 419 Rear Braddock Ave., Uniontown.
Schiffbauer was charged with a single count of receiving stolen property, while the other six suspects were charged with theft, conspiracy to commit theft and receiving stolen property.
The charges were filed before Magisterial District Judge Michael M. Metros.
The brown bear, which is valued at $10,000, was stolen from the Eagle’s Nest on Morgantown Street on Sept. 18.
Hromada said around 2 a.m., just a few hours before the animal was stolen, a group of men who police were able to identify as the suspects, tossed the standing-mount bear from a second-floor deck at the bar to a concrete patio below, breaking the base the bear was mounted on and damaging the bears’ face and paws.
Police were called and moved the bear under some steps until it could be taken back inside the bar. However, sometime during the next four hours, the men returned and stole the bear, Hromada said.
Police said that the suspects first contacted the bear’s owner, John El-Ayazra, and told him that they had only taken the animal as a prank and had intended to return it after repairing the damage.
The men then called police and admitted to taking the bear and officers recovered it from a Uniontown residence Sept. 22 and returned the damaged mount to the bar.
Hromada said a taxidermist examined the damage to the bear and determined it irreparable, noting an entire replacement of the existing hide and mount would be necessary.
The men face preliminary hearings at later dates before Metros.