Perryopolis homeowner returns home to find alleged burglary in progress
Police said a Perryopolis woman returning from her mother’s house interrupted a burglary at her residence earlier this month.
Samantha Chuboy, 27, told police she pulled into her driveway and saw a silver car behind the garage of her home on LaFayette Street on Oct. 6.
The driver’s seat of the car was empty but a woman and man were inside, so she asked them what they were doing. A woman in the car, identified by police as Kaitlynn M. Mann, 21, of California Borough, reportedly told Chuboy she was waiting for someone named “JJ.”
Police said Chuboy told her no one by that name lived there, and then saw a man leaving her home with her iPad and a belt.
When she yelled at him, police said, he dropped the items and fled. Chuboy told police $40 was missing from her home.
Through surveillance video and other police investigation, that man was identified as Justice T. Thorpe, 23, of Perryopolis.
Police said Mann, who was picked up on an unrelated warrant after the Oct. 6 burglary, told them Thorpe said he had to stop at a friend’s home. She said he laughed as they drove off after Chuboy caught him, according to court paperwork.
Mann also told police her 2-year-old was in the car during the alleged burglary, and faces charges of endangering the welfare of a child.
Thorpe is charged with burglary, endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of theft.
Warrants have been issued for both at the office of Magisterial District Judge Richard Kasunic.