Sep 28, 2015 2 min read

SPEERS – A Rostraver Township man has confessed to a home invasion Friday in Speers as well as to a separate burglary in the neighborhood earlier this month, Charleroi Regional police said.

Police accuse Jonathan Nugara, 21, of 27 Tudor Drive, of startling the victim in the living room of her residence in the 300 block of Lillian St. about 8 a.m. Friday, and fleeing with jewelry and money after she hit him with a telephone, according to the affidavit supporting the criminal charges in the case.

Investigators arrived at the home after Nugara left, and he later answered the door, out of breath, at a nearby apartment in a house where another residence was burglarized Sept. 12, police said.

Police said the home invasion victim was in her basement doing laundry when she heard a thump in the living room and went to investigate. Nugara then came down a flight of stairs, confronted her and demanded gold and money, the affidavit states.

She told police she struck him with the phone when he attempted to grab it while she was calling Washington County 911. She said she ran out the front door as the suspect fled through a rear door. She also discovered a box containing $40 in coins missing from her residence, along with a charm bracelet and gold chain holding a Roman Catholic symbol from Rome, police said.

The other burglary, in which jewelry and two designer purses were stolen, occurred in an apartment in the 100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue below the one where Nugara was staying with a friend, police said. The apartment had been entered through an unlocked kitchen window.

Police said officers apprehended Nugara later in the day Friday while he was walking along railroad tracks after discovering he was wanted by Rostraver police, and he was arrested after confessing to the two burglaries.

Nugara claimed that he sold the gold stolen Sept. 12 to a pawn shop in Belle Vernon because he was “dope sick,” the affidavit indicates.

Police said the bracelet and necklace stolen Friday were found in an empty soda can placed in a garbage can.

Nugara was charged with two counts each of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and trespassing. He was sent to Washington County jail on $75,000 bond set by District Judge Curtis Thompson.