Couple charged with loitering, receiving by N. Strabane police
From left, Christopher Cox and Sharlene Schultz
Christopher Martin Cox
Sharlene Marie Schultz
A South Franklin Township couple were arrested early Monday by North Strabane Township police after they allegedly were found in a neighborhood with items believed stolen from vehicles parked in the area.
Christopher Martin Cox, 37, and Sharlene Marie Schultz, 25, both of 285 King Air Circle, were taken into custody about 4:30 a.m. on Old Meadow Court in the Glencannon housing development.
Police initially were called to the 100 block of Hunting Creek Road by a resident who told police that a woman had knocked on the door, indicating she had been in a fight with her boyfriend. The woman then fled on foot.
While searching the area, police spotted two people, later identified as Cox and Schultz, running through a private parking area. The two were stopped next to a vehicle they claimed to have driven to the area. When asked why they were there, the two reportedly told police they were searching for a bag they lost in a nearby wooded area last week and were running because they were chasing two young people they saw trying to break into their car.
On the ground next to the car, Officer Michael Lukanski spotted a small plastic can containing loose change. The officer also could see two backpacks on the rear seat of the vehicle. Cox reportedly told the officer the bags were his and offered to let him look. Inside the backpacks were a Verizon tablet, a camera, two sets of monoculars and a large number of scratch-off lottery tickets.
With the tickets was a receipt from an automobile repair garage. Police called the person whose name was on the receipt and learned that her vehicle had been ransacked overnight and that numerous lottery tickets were stolen. She lives about a block from where police found Cox and Schultz.
Both were arraigned before District Judge Jay Weller on charges of receiving stolen property and loitering and prowling at night. They were placed in Washington County jail on $5,000 bonds. The two are scheduled to appear before Weller for a Nov. 7 preliminary hearing.