Homeowner identifies intruder
BRADY TWP — Police arrested a 21-year-old Venango County man Sunday, after he allegedly burglarized a garage that morning.
A short time earlier, authorities said, a homeowner on Route 8 in Brady Township had caught the suspect — Jacob R. Hernan, 21, of Franklin — in the act.
Hernan fled, apparently empty-handed, at about 7:30 a.m. but he didn't get far. Troopers found him walking on the side of the road not far from the victim's home.
Police said he was also found with suspected marijuana and drug contraband.
District Judge Bill O'Donnell later arraigned the defendant on charges of burglary, possession of a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, loitering and prowling at nighttime, defiant trespass and disorderly conduct.
He was placed in the Butler County Prison on $5,000 bail following arraignment.
The homeowner told police that she spotted an intruder in her garage on the 3000 block of Route 8, according to court documents. She confronted the burglar, who was holding a flashlight, and he took off.
When police arrived they noticed a man matching the burglar's description walking north of the home.
A search turned up the flashlight, two small plastic baggies containing what appeared to be marijuana, and a marijuana pipe.
The homeowner later identified Hernan as the man she had seen in her garage.
Hernan admitted to being inside the garage, according to a police affidavit, during an interview at the barracks in Butler Township.
