Lost shoe helps police nab suspect
SAXONBURG — Plain old-fashioned shoe leather helped police quickly solve a restaurant burglary.
The suspect's shoe was a big help, too.
Saxonburg Police said they tracked down Chad M. Hildebrand in part by using a shoe he left behind in his getaway after allegedly breaking into Kelley's Family Restaurant on West Main Street.
Hildebrand, 20, of Saxonburg later allegedly confessed to the Oct. 7 break-in. He was arrested last week and is being held in the Butler County Prison on $30,000 bail.
Police were notified of the crime about 10:30 p.m. after a neighbor reported hearing a noise coming from the restaurant.
A patrol officer happened to be nearby, according to Saxonburg Police Chief Joe Beachem, and he arrived in a minute or two.
While the patrolman and a Buffalo Township police officer called to assist walked around the restaurant, another neighbor cried out, “He's on the roof.”
The unknown burglar jumped off the restaurant's roof, about 10 feet to the ground.
“He landed and rolled in one motion,” Beachem said, “and took off running. He ran right out of one of his shoes.”
Read more about how police captured this suspect in Monday's Butler Eagle.
