Police Beat June 28
FRANKLIN
False statements charges: Two Greene County residents face charges filed Tuesday by state police in unrelated cases for allegedly making false statements to purchase a firearm. Brenda Melisa Merkley-Mitzen, 32, of 125 Fairview Ave., Waynesburg, and Joseph Paul McKenzie, 33, of 108 Cedarwood Drive, Carmichaels, each face a charge of materially false written statements to purchase a firearm and unsworn falsification to authorities. Merkley-Mitzen is accused of attempting to purchase a rifle from a Franklin Township business in November 2016 and was denied due to a previous guilty plea for theft, according to the criminal complaint. McKenzie is said to have tried to purchase a 12-gauge shotgun from a Franklin Township store March 13, 2017, and was denied due to a false answer on the application. McKenzie, according to the court document, had a previous conviction of possession of a weapon on school property.
JEFFERSON
False statements charges: Two Greene County residents were charged by state police Tuesday in unrelated cases for allegedly making false statements to purchase a firearm. Charles Leon Jones, 47, of 149 Homeville Road, Waynesburg, and Cody Dale Jenkins, 25, of 239 S. Church St., Waynesburg, each face a charge of materially false written statements to purchase a firearm and unsworn falsification to authorities. Police said Jones attempted to transfer a semi-automatic handgun from another person to his name at a Jefferson Township business Sept. 16, 2017, and was denied due to participation in the ARD program from a vehicle chop-shop offense. Jenkins tried to purchase a semi-automatic handgun from a Jefferson Township store May 24, 2017, and was denied due to a previous guilty plea to access device charges, according to police.
WAYNESBURG
False identification charge: Stanley Joseph Demaske II, 33, of 1444 Main St., Jefferson, was charged with false identification to a law enforcement officer and five summary driving violations Tuesday following a Feb. 25 traffic stop by Waynesburg police, according to court records. After Demaske was pulled over on West High Street due to an expired registration, he said he did not have his license during the stop and gave a name that was later determined not to be his, police said.