Jon Neely

BUTLER TWP — An accused burglar ended up in the Alameda Park swimming pool during an apparent getaway attempt from police, authorities said.

The suspect, despite sustaining an injured ankle in the escape, managed to elude officers for three hours Monday morning before showing up outside a restaurant just before dawn.

When Butler Township police finally caught up to 28-year-old Jon P. Neely of Ellwood City, Lawrence County, he was still soaking wet and in need of medical treatment, according to court documents.

He denied being at the pool, however, and told officers they had the wrong man.

Police, nevertheless, arrested Neely, charging him with burglary, trespass and criminal mischief. He remains in the Butler County Prison on $10,000 bail.

Patrolman David Endlich came upon the crime at the park about 2:15 a.m. while checking the upper parking lot, documents said. He spotted a man running in the pool area.

While investigating, Endlich and another patrolman discovered that the door to the pool’s snack bar area had been pried open. Coins were scattered on top of the cash register and the plastic cash tray was removed.

Park officials, however, later determined any money taken in the break-in would have been minimal. Nothing else was apparently missing.

The officers hunted the clues and soon found a “large wet spot” at one end of the door,” according to a police affidavit.

Investigators believe the suspect in his getaway fell into the shallow end while making a jump across a portion of the pool.

Police continued their search and about 5:30 a.m., they got a call from the Kings Restaurant on nearby New Castle Road.

An employee told police that a man had appeared there pounding on a window. The stranger, later identified as Neely, claimed he had wrecked his car and injured his ankle.

The officers got there and spoke with the defendant, who was “soaked with water and his ankle was clearly swollen,” the affidavit said.

But when police asked him about his wet and injured condition, they accused him of offering up differing and unbelievable explanations.

Endlich, in his criminal complaint, suggested that Neely “most likely rolled his ankle when he tried to jump over the narrow portion of the swimming pool with little success.”

The defendant was treated at Butler Memorial Hospital before being booked in the prison. His preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 4.