One wanted suspect was taken into custody on Friday for the burglary at the Shenandoah Family Dollar earlier in the week.
Kevin Kerner, 35, of Locustdale was taken into custody on Friday at OIP Pizza in Frackville, where he works.
Shenandoah Police Chief George Carado said Frackville Police Patrol Brian Reno spotted Kerner's vehicle parked at the restaurant on Friday. Shenandoah Police responded to the restaurant with police from Frackville, Butler Township, and West Mahanoy and found him in the kitchen and took him into custody.
Kerner was arraigned before on-call Magisterial District Judge Stephen Bayer, Tamaqua, and locked up in Schuylkill County Prison unable to post 10% of $25,000 bail.
The other suspect, Glenn Stitzer, of Gordon, has not been taken into custody.
According to Chief Carado, Stitzer and Kerner are facing charges for the "forcibly" entering the Shenandoah Family Dollar after it closed for the night.
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According to court papers, filed by Shenandoah Police Captain Travis Bowman, Glenn Stitzer, 38, of Gordon, and Kevin Kerner, 35, of Locustdale have been charged with felony burglary, criminal trespass, and summary by theft by unlawful taking for the incident that occurred on the evening of March 19th, 2024.
Captain Bowman wrote in his affidavit that around 10:45pm, Tuesday, he and Officer Mindy Parker-Petrus were dispatched to the Family Dollar on West Centre Street for a business burglar alarm. The caller, an employee, said he just closed the store and checked surveillance cameras and saw two males inside the store.
West Mahanoy Township Officers Mark Hysock and John Roberts also responded to the scene.
When police arrived, they found one of the double doors in front of the store wide open, not damaged, but the locking mechanism on the door was still engaged.
Upon checking the store, nobody was found inside.
A check of the surveillance cameras showed just before 10:30pm, the employees leaving the store and locking the front doors behind them. At the same time, a Hyundai sedan with Pennsylvania Registration was parked on the north side of the parking lot with its lights on.
Two males would later get out of the parked vehicle, with Kerner putting on black gloves, approach the front door, and pull the door open.
Both would make their way to the candy/drink aisle, which was out of camera view. Moments later they would appear back on camera and leave the store. Before leaving Stitzer could be seen putting a white object on top of the front aisle.
Stitzer and Kerner were reported to be in the store for approximately 3 minutes and handled several pieces of merchandise but are not believed to have removed anything out of the store.
The store employees indicated, that when the front doors are locked and opened with the alarm set, there is an audible alarm that goes off and there could be no possibility that Stitzer and Kerner didn't hear it.
Shenandoah Police would later identify Kerner and Stitzer after they posted their photos to Facebook and received multiple anonymous tips identifying them.
On Thursday March 21st, 2024, Captain Bowman filed the above charges against Kerner and Stitzer and warrants were issued for their arrest.