Indianapolis men charged in burglary spree
Thefts occurred across several counties, including Fayette, Washington and Greene
Three Indianapolis men are accused of conspiring to steal money by breaking into cash machines 27 times across southwestern Pennsylvania over a three-month period.
Charges were filed against the three men — Kavon Carter, 24; Demarkis Bartlett, 28; and Tony Edwards, 22 — in Fayette County Wednesday.
Between December 2024 and February 2025, they allegedly committed 27 burglaries across Fayette, Greene, Washington, Allegheny, Erie, Butler and Venango counties.
Police said the restitution needed to cover the thefts and damages would be more than $83,000, with the dollar amounts of multiple burglaries still to be determined, according to the complaint.
Their alleged criminal activity also extended into neighboring states, including West Virginia and Maryland.
The three men were arrested on Feb. 19, 2025 in Ohio after officers had tracked Carter’s cellphone heading east on Interstate 70, following the pattern of their previous trips, the complaint said.
The complaint filed by state police in Uniontown detailed a network of information passing back and forth between police departments over the final month leading to the arrest. Seventeen departments in Pennsylvania were among them, as were several others in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Florida.
Surveillance footage, incident reports and vehicle information showed a succession of broadly similar incidents happening in bunches: three Black men breaking into residential buildings, then using a sledgehammer to break into cash machines used for laundry facilities before leaving in a vehicle with out-of-state plates that differed with each cluster of reports — a Nissan Rogue for one set, a Jeep Compass for another.
A Nissan Rogue used in the early January burglaries was found to have been rented out of Indianapolis, with license plate readers confirming the path of travel to Pennsylvania, the complaint said.
An officer in Millcreek described a similar 2022 case involving three suspects, in which Carter had been arrested. Surveillance footage of Carter from those burglaries matched his appearance in instances where he removed his mask in the more recent burglaries, police said.
Police also found Carter had rented vehicles out of Indianapolis during the time period of burglaries corresponding with the dates in which they appeared in surveillance footage, the complaint said.
Police received a search warrant for Carter’s cellphone data, which also revealed him to be near the crime scenes at the time of the burglaries, the complaint said.
A search of the gray Chevrolet Equinox rented by Carter for the final trip turned up black ninja face masks and a black-and-red sledgehammer and gray crowbar matching ones seen in surveillance footage, the complaint said. Police said they also recovered camo gloves matching ones the men had worn in the February burglaries, along with three cellphones.
Data from the phones and video surveillance further links Bartlett and Edwards, investigators said. Bartlett’s phone was found to have been near several of the burglary sites; in addition, he had set directions to several of the sites on Apple Maps, according to the complaint.
Edwards’ height and build is the same as the “taller, thinner male” captured in the footage, and his face can be seen briefly in footage where he removes his mask, the complaint said.
Additionally, footage from the traffic stop in Ohio shows him wearing the same black hooded zip-up jacket seen in video of a Feb. 17 burglary, while video surveillance shows him wearing the gloves and masks seized from the vehicle, the complaint said.
The three suspects are charged with conspiracy to violate state racketeering laws, control of a criminal enterprise, acting as an employee of a criminal enterprise, burglary, theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief and criminal trespass.
Carter’s preliminary arraignment is scheduled for Thursday. There have not been arraignment dates set for the other two men.