Waynesburg man acquitted of charges in mobile home incident
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WAYNESBURG – A Waynesburg man was acquitted by a Greene County jury Thursday on charges of receiving stolen property and disorderly conduct in connection with an incident at a mobile home in Waynesburg last year.
John R. Stage, 44, of Trailer 1, 260 W. High St., was arrested by Waynesburg police in March 2014 and accused of having a jacket and a handheld video poker machine that were stolen from another mobile home at the park.
Police said they were called at 1:45 p.m. March 7, 2014 for a break-in and found Stage nearby with blood on his face from a cut above his nose. Stage was taken to Southwest Regional Medical Center and police said he began acting erratically in the emergency room and shoved a laptop cart away from him, threw gauze pads and began jerking his handcuffs.
The victim, Donald Snyder, told police he had received a call from Stage’s girlfriend who told him Stage had broken into his house. He said that inside his home he found a pillow filled with his property and his jacket, the pockets of which were filled with items from his home.
An Xbox gaming system and other items belonging to Snyder were found on a neighbor’s porch. He also said Stage hit himself in the head with a rolling pin and head-butted a cooler before running away.
Police said Stage later told them he remembered nothing of what happened that day. He then claimed he did not break into the house.
Stage was found guilty by Greene County President Judge Farley Toothman, who presided at the trial, of the summary offense of public drunkenness. He was fined $300.
In other business, Samuel David Wilson, 32, of 438 Braden St., Waynesburg, pleaded guilty Monday to criminal mischief and was sentenced by Toothman to one year of probation and fined $300. A theft charge was withdrawn.
Police said Wilson and another man were found removing a $1,500 drilling system from property on Gordon Hill in Franklin Township on May 19, 2014.
Wilson claimed he received permission from a man in Claysville to take the equipment. However, the property owner told police he never gave anyone permission to remove it.