Outages lead to carbon monoxide incidents in Bucks, Montco

Posted: Friday, February 7, 2014

People were doing whatever they could to get the comforts of home during the region’s extended power outage Thursday following Wednesday’s record-breaking ice storm, which is exactly what fire officials feared, as potentially deadly incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning were reported in the area.

Several people were taken to area hospitals Thursday night after a carbon monoxide incident at a house on Loggers Mill Road in Horsham, police said.

One of the injured was flown by Medevac helicopter to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the others were taken to Abington Memorial Hospital. Police on Thursday night did not have a number of victims or the extent of their injuries.

Police were investigating the cause of the carbon monoxide exposure Thursday night. Emergency responders initially received a call just after 9 p.m. for a person not feeling well at the home, police said.

In Middletown, fire marshal James McGuire said firefighters responded to four calls overnight Wednesday involving carbon-monoxide fumes in homes using gas generators for power. Several others involved homes in which carbon-monoxide alarms sounded, but homeowners ventilated the dwelling before calling 911, he said.

After responding to one call for carbon-monoxide fumes, firefighters found a generator placed so close to the home the siding on the house had melted, McGuire said. At another call, McGuire found an extension cord stretched from one house to another, six houses away.

In addition, on Thursday morning, firefighters responded to a call involving a powerless homeowner who brought his barbecue grill indoors for heat and cooking.

“People aren’t thinking; it’s cold, people are doing whatever they have to, to stay warm,” McGuire said. “People are just thinking about surviving. People aren’t thinking about the consequences that come with it.”

Roughly 280,000 PECO customers, including 155,000 in Bucks and Montgomery counties, remained without power Friday morning, down from 623,000 outages reported Wednesday following what is described as the second worst storm, damage-wise, in PECO Energy history.

The largest chunk of customers without power remains in Montgomery County, where about 85,000 customers were powerless Friday morning.

The county began distributing federal and state emergency supplies, including generators, ready-to-eat meals, water and other items after a Thursday conference call between the county’s emergency command center and affected communities, officials said.

By 6:30 a.m., the number of outages in Bucks County had fallen to 70,000, but that was little consolation for towns like Yardley, where only 525 of the 1,300 customers had power. The borough was among a dozen municipalities in Bucks County where more than half of the homes and businesses remained in the dark as of Thursday afternoon.

PECO has brought in extra workers from Arkansas, Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York and New Brunswick, Canada, to assist in restoring power, spokeswoman Debra Yemenijian said. A total of 3,500 PECO employees were working, including those in the field.

When it comes to restoring power, PECO prioritizes critical customers — hospitals, emergency responders and water companies — Yemenijian said. After that, priority goes to the largest number of customers who are impacted downward, she said. Outage pockets with the fewest customers are typically fixed last.

As of Thursday, PECO anticipated that power to most customers would be restored by Friday evening, but some will be without power until Sunday night.

Across Bucks and Montgomery counties, businesses, community and municipal organizations were operating so-called warming stations where powerless residents could warm up, charge up electronics or enjoy a hot beverage.

Ten people stayed overnight Wednesday at an American Red Cross emergency shelter at Maple Point Middle School in Middletown, shelter manager Ina Katz said. The overnight guests included residents from Buckingham, where roughly 65 percent of residents were still without power Thursday afternoon.

As of Thursday afternoon, 11 people were in the Maple Point shelter with another 28 people staying at a Red Cross shelter at Hatboro-Horsham High School in Horsham. Both shelters would remain open at least through Friday morning.

Katz urged anyone without power to stop in.

“Don’t stay in a cold house,” she said. “That is why the Red Cross is here.”

Middletown public works employees were on the lookout for residents who are staying put — using generators, wood stoves, space heaters and fireplaces to keep warm. They want to make sure they are staying safe, McGuire said.

Bucks County emergency dispatch logged 38 calls for carbon monoxide fumes since Wednesday, county spokesman Christopher Edwards said.

Most of the overnight Wednesday calls involving carbon-monoxide in Middletown, the gas generators were located too close to the home, inside a garage, under a porch or near a window or door, McGuire said. Generators need to be placed outside and away from the building, he said. Officials recommend generators be no closer than 20 feet from the home.

Upper Southampton firefighters responded to a carbon-monoxide call Thursday morning involving a gas generator running too close to a home, Fire Marshal Mark Showmaker said. The generator was stationed about 2 feet from the home and under an overhanging porch, he said.

During extended power outages like this one, fire officials see a lot of people using generators who are not familiar with how they work, Showmaker said. They also worry about setting them up far from the home, afraid it will attract thieves.

In Upper Makefield, where only 240 of 3,700 homes had power as of Thursday afternoon, dirty fireplaces were on the mind of Fire Marshal John Kernan.

A bad chimney fire extended into a home on Bailey Drive Wednesday night leaving it significantly damaged, he said. The homeowners were using a fireplace for heat, but had not had it cleaned recently. A heavy creosote deposit in the chimney led to the fire.

“When the power goes out, people go to Plan B and things can get dangerous real quick,” he added.

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@calkins.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia

Avoid power-outage related hazards

Gas Generators

• ALWAYS use generators outdoors, away from doors, windows, vents or eaves.
• Never use a generator inside a home or closed area such as a garage, even if the space is ventilated
• Install battery-operated carbon monoxide alarms in your home, and test the alarms and replace batteries.
• Keep the generator dry. Operate it on a dry surface under an open canopy like structure
• Dry your hands before touching a generator
• Plug appliances directly into generator or use heavy-duty outdoor-rated extension cord. Make sure the entire cord is free of cuts, tears and that the plug has all three prongs and a grounding pin.
• NEVER plug a generator into a wall outlet.

Avoid Fire Hazards

• Before refueling the generator or space heater turn it off and let it cool at least five minutes. 
• Always store fuel outside in non-glass containers
• Use appropriate sized and type of power cords
• Never run extension cords under rugs or through snow, puddles or ice.
• Keep all combustible items at least three feet away from space heaters or wood stoves. Make sure your alternative heaters have “tip switches” that turn if tipped over
• Do not plug multiple extension cords together and string them between homes, especially over roadways or driveways
• Do not coil extension cords as it builds heat and creates a fire hazard
• Use heavy, thick-gauge, short extension cords for large appliances.

• Before refueling the generator or space heater turn it off and let it cool at least five minutes. 
• Always store fuel outside in non-glass containers
• Use appropriate sized and type of power cords
• Never run extension cords under rugs or through snow, puddles or ice.
• Keep all combustible items at least three feet away from space heaters or wood stoves. Make sure your alternative heaters have “tip switches” that turn if tipped over
• Do not plug multiple extension cords together and string them between homes, especially over roadways or driveways
• Do not coil extension cords as it builds heat and creates a fire hazard
• Use heavy, thick-gauge, short extension cords for large appliances.

Bristol Twp. rape suspect charged in 2 more attacks

Posted: Thursday, February 6, 2014

A 25-year-old Bristol Township man accused in a New Year’s Day rape has been charged in two earlier rapes after police say an investigation found similarities between the three sexual assaults.

Jon Anthony Schwegler allegedly attacked only women he knew and he was physically and verbally abusive and threatened violence against the women and their families. He also strangled two of the three women, police said.

Police discovered the similarities after he was arrested for the Jan. 1 rape of a female friend while her children slept upstairs in her apartment. He allegedly attacked her and threatened to burn the woman’s apartment down with her and the children inside if she didn’t comply with his sexual demands.

The two had spent New Year’s Eve watching celebrations on TV when Schwegler allegedly started telling the woman he had “feelings” for her and making sexual comments. The woman told Schwegler they were just friends and resisted his advances, which made him more aggressive, police said.

The woman was able to lock Schwegler out of the apartment when he went outside to smoke a cigarette. When he was taken into police custody, he allegedly admitted raping the woman and threatening her and her children.   

Jon Schwegler

The subsequent police investigation, though, revealed that Bristol Township police had twice investigated Schwegler for rape in November 2009 and December 2010. Charges were never filed, and court records do not say why.

After his arrest in the New Year’s Day assault, police interviewed Schwegler again about the prior rape cases. He admitted to the 2010 rape telling a detective that he strangled the woman “hard” while sexually assaulting her, according to a probable cause affidavit.

“The defendant recalled, and told me, ‘he remembers her crying a little bit,’ ” the detective said in the affidavit, adding the Schwegler admitted the woman told him to stop, but he didn’t.

The woman, who reported the rape in 2011, told police she had gone to a friend’s house where eventually she found herself alone with Schwegler. Initially the two started having consensual sex on a living room couch, but then Schwegler smacked the woman hard in the face, according to the affidavit.

He then allegedly strangled her to the point she couldn’t breathe, police said. At one point, the woman claimed she was smacked in the face so hard that she became dizzy.

The woman told Schwegler multiple times to stop but he ignored her, and physically restrained her. While raping her he allegedly called her obscene names, police said. Afterward, the two fell asleep on the couch, but when the woman woke up she alleged that Schwegler again started strangling her to the point she couldn’t breathe.

She demanded a ride home and a friend of the apartment owner drove her home, court records state.

In the interview, Schwegler also recalled the 2009 incident, which occurred in his parents’ basement, where his bedroom was located. Schwegler told the detective he knew the woman didn’t want to have sex with him because of her “body language,” court documents said.

“She was probably scared because I was being a little rough with her,” he also told police.

The woman told police that she met Schwegler a few days earlier and was hanging out with him “partying” when he invited her to his home. She was sitting on his bed, when Schwegler got on top of her and started forcefully removing her clothing, court documents said.

The woman said she resisted his advances but he refused to stop; while raping her she said he slammed her head against a wall and called her obscene names, police said. He also allegedly threatened to cut her throat, and her mother’s throat, if she tried to escape.

He also allegedly kept his hands around her throat for most of the attack. Afterward, he took a golf club from underneath the bed and slept with it on top of her, police said. In the morning he raped her again and then let her go, police said.

Schwegler is charged with three counts of forcible rape, indecent sexual assault, sexual assault and related charges. He was arraigned Thursday before Bristol Township District Judge Joanne Kline and sent to Bucks County prison in lieu of 10 percent of $100,000.

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@calkins.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia

Morrisville couple accused of using stolen car to rob store

Posted: Friday, February 7, 2014 

A Morrisville couple is accused of leaving a 2-year-old alone beside a space heater in a locked bedroom of a powerless apartment so they could steal an idling car and rob a 7-Eleven.

Police say the couple’s road trip started around midnight Thursday in Morrisville when Malcom Shields, 21, and girlfriend Christine Speciale, 22, hatched a plot to rob the store where Speciale once worked. It ended two hours later in Bristol Township when a man looking for his friend’s stolen car allegedly found the couple driving it and confronted them.

Police believe the couple stole the car that was parked outside a 7-Eleven on South Pennsylvania Avenue in the borough. The customer reported that he left it running while he was inside, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Less than an hour later, Falls police were called to another 7-Eleven on West Trenton Avenue to investigate a report of a robbery. An employee said a man and woman — later identified as Shields and Speciale — entered the store with clothes concealing their faces and hands.

Malcom Shields (L) and Christine Speciale

Shields announced the robbery was taking place and Speciale removed a purple tote bag from her jacket and demanded the clerk fill it with cash, police said. When the employee said he couldn’t open the register without making a sale, Speciale told Shields several times “just shoot him already,” according to the affidavit. Court documents do not indicate whether the couple had a weapon.

Shields then reached over the counter and took numerous instant lottery tickets and directed the clerk to hand over several boxes and cartons of cigarettes and his cellphone, police said.

When the man refused, Shield allegedly assaulted him and removed the phone from the man’s pants pocket. The couple then ran off with the employee chasing after them until he lost them on West Trenton Avenue, police said.

What the couple didn’t realize is that the man looking for his friend’s stolen car noticed the couple in it after the robbery, court documents show. The man pursued the car into Bristol Township and confronted the couple inside a gas station on Route 413 shortly after 2 a.m., police said.

During the confrontation, the car owner’s friend took a purple bag from Shields. Inside the bag, he found the stolen cellphone and 59 unused lottery tickets, according to court documents.

A clerk at the gas station flagged down police, who said they found the stolen car unoccupied and abandoned a short distance from the gas station.

Shields and Speciale were taken into police custody. Speciale allegedly said they planned to rob the 7-Eleven where she once worked because she knew the building layout.

The store clerk did not know either Speciale or Shields, police said.

Speciale also admitted leaving her son in a locked bedroom they rent in a Morrisville home while they were committing the crimes, police said.

A Falls police officer went to the home to check on the toddler and found him alone wearing a soiled diaper near an “active” space heater, court records show. The apartment had no electricity at the time and the bedroom was locked, police said. The officer spoke with Speciale’s roommates who said they didn’t know the boy was alone in the bedroom and they weren’t asked to baby-sit, police said.

Speciale and Shields were arraigned before Falls District Judge Jan Vislosky on charges of robbery, theft and endangering the welfare of children. Shield faces an additional simple assault charge. They were both sent to Bucks County prison in lieu of 10 percent of $250,000 bail apiece.

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@calkins.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia

Carnival worker who fled Bucks DUI charges nabbed in Fla.

Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 

A carnival worker was arrested last week in Florida, where authorities said he fled after skipping a court date involving charges that he severely injured a 24-year-old woman while drunk and driving a golf cart at a Tullytown fair last year.

Bruce Coppage, 30, of Gibsonton, Fla., who ran the Tilt-a-Whirl ride for Reithoffer Shows, was arrested on a bench warrant at a county fair in Highlands County, Fla., Feb. 7, according to a police report.

“I am relieved. I cried when I found out,” said Kelley Sweat, the carnival concession worker whom Coppage is accused of injuring.

Coppage is expected to be extradited to Pennsylvania, where he faces aggravated assault while DUI and related offenses in connection with the June 27 accident at St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church’s annual fair.

Bruce Coppage

Tullytown police allege that Coppage had a blood alcohol level of 0.108 when he slammed into Sweat, of South Carolina, who was working at an ice cream concession stand. The legal limit for driving in Pennsylvania is 0.08.   

Coppage admitted to police he had “several” alcoholic beverages prior to getting behind the wheel of the cart, according to court documents.

When he was arrested, Coppage was initially released on $5,000 unsecured bail. He appeared at only one of three preliminary hearings in the case, and at that appearance the district judge allowed him more time to get a lawyer.

No attorney had been entered in court records as representing Coppage, who was held for trial at a preliminary hearing held in his absence in October.

Coppage assembles and takes down rides for Florida-based Reithoffer Shows, which manages traveling carnivals that take place across the country and several in Bucks County. Sweat, who also worked for Reithoffer Shows for a few months before her injury, said Coppage continued working for the company after his arrest.

Reithoffer’s general manager, Nick Alberts, said Coppage was working for the company when the accident happened, but that he didn’t know if he was let go after the arrest. He referred further questions to another company official who did not return a call. A number listed for the Reithoffer’s Boca Roton corporate office has been disconnected.

Sweat on Tuesday said that she told the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and Florida authorities where to find Coppage in Florida, which is the site of the company’s headquarters during winter. She worked with the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office warrant division to apprehend Coppage, who reportedly was arrested while working the Tilt-a-Whirl ride for Reithhoffer Shows.

“I had a good idea he was still working there because of mutual friends of ours,” said Sweat, whose fiancé also works for Reithoffer Shows. “It took a lot of work.”

Sweat said she has been in touch with the Bucks County DA’s office and was told it would take about a week to bring him back to Pennsylvania.

Bucks prosecutor A.J. Garabedian, who is handling the case, confirmed that he has been working with Sweat and her fiance to track Coppage down.

The accident severely injured Sweat’s left arm and kept her hospitalized at St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown for a month. Sweat, who is left-handed, has undergone 10 operations to reconstruct her arm below her elbow, including repairing her bones and taking leg muscle to use in her arm, she said.  

An x-ray of Kelly Sweat's injured arm

“They took everything out of my arm. I can’t even pick things up,” she said. “Now I sit home every day and stare out my window and wait for resolution.”

Sweat said that she faces three more surgeries and doctors have inserted 14 screws and two bars in her arm to secure it. She is unemployed and has no health insurance coverage and her medical bills from the accidents are more than $70,000, she said.

Her family has created an online page on www.gofundme.com to help raise money to cover her medical bills. She has also retained a Philadelphia personal injury attorney who filed a lawsuit on Sweat’s behalf in October in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. The suit, which seeks more than $50,000 in damages, names Coppage and Reithoffer Shows Inc. as defendants.

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@calkins.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia

Police: Road conditions factor in turnpike accident

Posted: Friday, February 14, 2014 

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission lifted speed restrictions and truck bans early Friday — two hours before a serious chain reaction pileup involving nearly 100 cars — because its maintenance crews reported the highway was “treated and clear of snow.”

But road conditions along the highway played a factor in the accidents, which were reported around 8 a.m., according to Pennsylvania State Police.

State police spokesman Trooper Adam Reed said late Friday several factors led to the crash.

“The causes are slick roadways, people following too closely for conditions and bright sun glare. It takes just one person to make a mistake and then a crash occurs,” he said.

Commission spokeswoman Mimi Doyle said that maintenance crews continued to travel the turnpike treating “trouble spots,” after the 45-mph speed restriction and ban on certain commercial and non-commercial trailers were lifted at 6 a.m.

Many of the motorists left stranded for hours on the turnpike reported icy road conditions following Thursday and Friday’s storms that dumped a foot of snow onto the Philadelphia region.

“If you had to put the brakes on, you could feel it sliding under you,” said Christine Wink, of Conshohocken, who was stranded three miles from the Bensalem exit.

Twenty-seven people were injured in traffic accidents involving multiple tractor-trailers and dozens of cars. The wrecks stranded hundreds of drivers for hours along an 8-mile stretch of the eastbound Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Both turnpike lanes between the Bensalem and Willow Grove interchanges were reopened by 4 p.m. Friday.

Before the turnpike reopened, though, Bensalem police were allowing only emergency vehicles to enter the eastbound turnpike. All other traffic was directed to Route 13 where motorists could get on the turnpike in Bristol Township to continue to New Jersey, Doyle said.

With some motorists stranded for more than three hours, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission began alleviating the backed-up eastbound traffic around 11:30 a.m. Turnpike workers removed concrete barriers between the eastbound and westbound lanes so drivers could be turned around and directed to exit at the Willow Grove interchange, then follow the detour to get back to Bensalem, Doyle said.

A tractor-trailer that was blocking all eastbound lanes was moved so trapped drivers could get past the scene in the left lane and continue east. Disabled commercial vehicles remained on the highway, but all backlogged passenger vehicles were removed. Wreckers removed disabled vehicles.

Pennsylvania State Police spokesman Adam Reed did not yet have a firm figure for the number of accidents that occurred, but it’s believed to be close to 100, Reed said, though only a handful resulted in serious injuries.

The injured were taken to area hospitals, but none of the injuries were life threatening, according to Reed and turnpike spokesman Bill Capone. Five of the 30 people had what were described as “serious” injuries, Reed said.

At Abington Memorial, a spokeswoman reported 16 people were receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. Kate Smith, of St. Mary Medical Center, said seven people were hospitalized from the turnpike accidents — four women and three men.

“They are being evaluated now but they do appear to be minor injuries,” Smith said. No further information is being provided on the injuries.

Three people were taken to Doylestown Hospital following the crash. All sustained minor injuries, according to Diane Blackman, a charge nurse at the hospital. As of 12:30 p.m. Friday, two had been treated and released and the third was expected to be released shortly, she said.

Sitting in Abington’s emergency room waiting area, her arms crossed, a visibly shaken woman said that her husband was involved in the crash and that she was waiting for news of his condition. She declined further comment.

The turnpike closure forced vehicles onto eastbound Street Road through Feasterville. Street Road was backed up for about two miles with the overflow. Eastbound Street Road through Upper Southampton also was heavily congested.

The westbound turnpike lanes weren’t shut down until shortly before 11:30 a.m., Doyle said, though emergency responders and firefighters were using those lanes to get to the injured.

“We don’t like to shut down the road if we don’t have to,” Doyle said, adding that since so many first responders were using the westbound lanes “at this point it’s just easier to close it down,” she said.

Pedro Leal, a project manager at Image One Industries in Bensalem, said traffic was moving slowly near the Willow Grove exit. He was doing about 30 mph and there was a half-inch or an inch of ice on the roadway.

As they neared an overpass at mile-marker 348, drivers started slamming on the brakes. He was lucky. He moved into the left lane and his car didn’t get a scratch. But a lot of the cars around him did.

He saw one woman leave on a stretcher. Her red car had overturned in the series of collisions.

“I commute Monday to Friday and the glare is really bad between the Willow Grove and Bensalem exits,” Leal said. “Maybe with the mixed reflection of the water and snow and ice with the usual glare people couldn’t see far enough to know they had to stop.”

Ismael Hermie Rivera, 47, of Bristol, was driving in the westbound lane of the turnpike on his way to his job at ADT in Willow Grove when the crash occurred.

“It was just car after car after car crashing; then here comes this truck,” he said. “I’m seeing cars flip in that lane, then a car in front of me slips on black ice and he gets in an accident.”

Cliff Tuma of East Norriton, Montgomery County, and some coworkers with Berks Painting and Renovations of Conshohocken provided a valuable service for motorists stuck on the roadway.

Tuma and his fellow workers were in their van heading east to a job in Northeast Philadelphia when they came to a standstill west of the Bensalem interchange. They got stuck at 8:30 a.m. Friday and as of 12:30 p.m. still hadn’t moved.

Tuma and the others covered their van’s windows with a drop cloth and let those desperate to urinate do so in the back of the van — something a few women had taken advantage of, Tuma said.

He said people who were stuck and onlookers were looking for ways to help each other.

“We’ve had people coming down from an overpass handing out pizza and water and other things to people who are stuck,” he said.

David Hill, 27, was about a mile back and had turned his car off to save gas. Given the nearest exit was about 2½ miles away, he anticipated being there for hours.

“There’s no possible way,” he said. “I’m stuck.”

Hill, who works for a wealth management company, said he wasn’t surprised there was an accident.

“I got on the turnpike and it was nothing but ice,” he said. “I was very surprised at the condition of it. Normally the turnpike is one of the first roads that’s cleared, but today I was driving on solid ice.”

Meanwhile the southbound Northeast Extension was the scene of a wreck between the Lansdale and Mid-County toll plazas around the same time Friday as the chain reaction pileup on the eastbound turnpike.

Bob Gregg of West Chester also said he was not surprised the chain reaction crashes happened.

“All along the way there were nice patches of road and then icy patches,” Gregg said of his trip from West Chester east.

He was preparing to get off at the Bensalem exit of the turnpike to go to his job off Street Road when the accident happened.

Gregg was among the hundreds of people stranded behind the accidents between the Bensalem and Willow Grove interchanges.

After about three hours of waiting in the backup, Gregg and a handful of other people climbed an embankment to an overpass that carries Second Street Pike over the turnpike in Upper Southampton.

He walked to a nearby Subway to get a meatball hoagie and chocolate chip cookie to bring back to his car and continue waiting.

Gregg said no one around him was injured in the massive pileup and everyone caught up in the backup checked to make sure their fellow travelers were OK.

He said a woman in front of him had an infant with her. She called some friends who came to the Second Street Pike overpass to get the baby from her and she went back to wait until she was able to resume driving her car.

Wayne Fortmeier was among the many area residents who were drawn Friday to overpasses to check out the damage below on the eastbound turnpike.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Fortmeier, a Lower Southampton resident.

He watched as first responders checked drivers and passengers in five vehicles that collided just before the overpass that carries Buck Road over the turnpike.

“It’s a miracle that nobody got killed,” he said.

Man arrested for stalking, harassing ex, breaking into her house

Posted: Friday, February 14, 2014 

There is love. There is obsession. Then there is Robert Linn, police say.

The 36-year-old Philadelphia man allegedly waged an 11-month-long stalking and harassment campaign against his ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter that included posing as the woman on an Internet dating site and sending strangers to her house with the promise of sex.

In April 2013, the woman told police she had been receiving harassing text messages from an unidentified cell phone user, police said. She turned her phone over to police as part of the investigation, but Linn, who was living with her at her Falls home, did not turn over his phone, though he claimed he also received text messages from the same person, police said.

Robert Linn

In addition to the calls, the woman was receiving harassing emails and Facebook postings. She also told police a notebook containing her electronic passwords was missing from her home.

In May, the couple separated, police said.

Since then, the woman told police she has received visits from men who claim they met her on a dating site and that she promised to have sex with them. She also told police she has been locked out of her social media and email accounts after the passwords were changed.

Last week, she lost power during the ice storm and took herself and her children to stay with a relative. Her uncle checked on her home and found a TV missing as well as several photos. The woman called police.

Falls police investigated and found four TVs had been piled into a bathtub and soaked with water. Photos of the woman and her two daughters were found face up and pinned to a bed using kitchen knives, police said. The photos had been damaged with cut marks on the girls' necks and woman's face, police said.

Police, who also noted damaged furniture, found evidence that someone had broken a rear window in an attempt to make it look like a break in.

On Tuesday, police obtained a search warrant for Linn’s Philadelphia apartment. Police said Linn made statements regarding his “guilt” in the ongoing harassment and stalking of his ex.

“He stated that we would find evidence on his cellular phone, that she was never in any danger and he never intended on hurting her, just scaring her,” according to the affidavit.

Linn admitted to staging the burglary and stabbing the photos, police said.

Police said he told them he was glad he was caught and that he started sending her harassing text messages because he wanted to know if she had been unfaithful to him.

“It was finally over,” he said, according to the affidavit.

Linn was arraigned Wednesday on burglary, stalking, harassment and related charges. He was sent to Bucks County prison in lieu of 10 percent of $200,000. As part of his bail conditions he also can have no contact with the woman, her children and cannot use cell phones or computers.

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@calkins.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia

Bensalem cops: DNA links man to 4 car thefts, 12 car break-ins

Posted: Tuesday, February 18, 2014

When Bensalem police developed a 32-year-old Philadelphia man as a suspect in a stolen car case last year, they didn’t anticipate his arrest might solve more than a dozen other thefts.

DNA evidence shows that Jeffrey Minio is responsible for stealing four cars and items from a dozen other vehicles, court records show. Some of the stolen items — along with mail and prescription pill bottles in Minio’s name — were found in the most recent car he is accused of stealing, police said.

Minio’s name came to the attention of police in October after a BMW X5 reported stolen a month earlier from a Brister Road driveway was recovered. Inside the car were numerous items that didn’t belong to the owner, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The items included a window punch, flashlight, numerous cellphones and cellphone chargers, a pack of Marlboro Light 100s, jewelry, iPods, syringes, prescriptions in Minio’s name for Suboxone, a drug used to treat opiate addiction, and Klonopin, an anti-anxiety drug, and mail also addressed to Minio, court records show.

Police also found keys to a Toyota Camry that belonged to another Bensalem man who had reported his car stolen from his driveway in September. The owner had left the car unlocked with the keys inside, police said.

The other items found in the BMW were identified as stolen from cars last year, police said.

In November, police obtained a search warrant for Minio’s DNA, which was executed at the Philadelphia Detention Center. His DNA matched evidence taken from the BMW X5 and other unsolved thefts involving vehicles, police said.

In three of the thefts from vehicles, police say that Minio left behind a cigarette butt, water bottle and stolen Hi-C juice bottles that police swabbed for DNA evidence.

Minio was arraigned last week on four counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle along with 16 counts each of theft and receiving stolen property. He was sent to Bucks County prison in lieu of 10 percent of $100,000 bail.

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@calkins.com;Twitter: @jociavaglia