SAXONBURG — A Butler man is headed for trial, accused of breaking into his then-girlfriend's house in Middlesex Township and stealing two guns in April.

Tyler O. Lambing, 20, and the 17-year-old girl allegedly stole her father's car and the two fled to West Virginia.

Both young defendants were eventually caught and charged.

District Judge Sue Haggerty ordered Lambing, a felon, held for court at his preliminary hearing Wednesday in Saxonburg.

He is charged with burglary, three counts each of theft and receiving stolen property, two counts of felons not to possess firearms, and conspiracy to commit theft, all felonies.

He also faces a misdemeanor charge of corruption of minors.

Middlesex Township police officer Conrad Pfeifer, the lone witness to testify at the hearing, recounted being called out April 12 to the Route 8 home where the girl lives with her father and younger brother.

The Butler Eagle is not identifying the girl or her father due to her age.

Her case was adjudicated last month in county juvenile court. She was originally charged with eight felonies.

But in a deal with prosecution, she was disposed for conspiracy to commit theft of a gun, a felony, and unauthorized use of a vehicle, a misdemeanor.

She is being held at a Westmoreland County juvenile educational facility for at-risk youth.

Pfeifer said the girl's father told police that when he returned home around 3:45 p.m., he found his bedroom ransacked. Missing were two guns — an AR-15 rifle and a 9 mm pistol — as well as a watch and his 2010 Toyota Camry.

“The first remark he said was his daughter stole his car and there were items missing from the house,” the officer told prosecutor Amanda Scarpo, a county assistant district attorney.

The girl apparently skipped school that day, police said, and she told her father that she was going to pick up a friend from jail.

Her brother was home sick from school and was upstairs that morning when he heard two voices in the house, downstairs.

“He recognized the voice as his sister,” Pfeifer said, referring to what the boy told police. “The other voice was a male voice.” The boy did not know who it was.

Police eventually spoke to the girl's caseworker at the Butler County Children and Youth Services agency.

“She indicated that (the girl's) boyfriend was Tyler Lambing,” Pfeifer said, referring to the caseworker.

“Based on the information that you had been given from (the father, brother and caseworker),” Scarpo asked Pfeifer, “was it your sincere belief that Mr. Lambing, the defendant here today, was the person accompanying (the girl) inside the house)?”

“Yes,” he replied.

But during cross-examination by Lambing's attorney, public defender Ryan Helsel, the officer admitted he had no physical evidence that indicated the defendant was ever in the house.

He noted that several fingerprints were lifted from the house and are waiting to be processed by the state police crime lab.

Pfeifer also admitted that the girl's father never mentioned Lambing by name when initially questioned by police.

The officer said the girl was considered “missing” and the investigation subsequently went high-tech.

“We contacted the cell phone carrier and did what's called a 'ping' on (her) cell phone,” he said, “and found it traveling south on (Interstate) 79 in the area of Fairmont, W.Va.”

Ultimately, around 10 p.m. the stolen car was found in the parking lot of a Walmart in White Hall, a small town in northern West Virginia, next to Fairmont.

White Hall police responded. The girl was in the vehicle; Lambing was not.

Investigators did not immediately know why the pair drove to West Virginia or what their plans were beyond stopping at the store.

Pfeifer said that police in White Hall reported they found the rifle in the car. The pistol also was recovered, but he did not know where police found it.

One of the White Hall police officers previously told the Butler Eagle that the handgun was found in the car's truck along with the rifle.

The manhunt for Lambing continued into the next day. He was captured April 13, Pfeifer said.

White Hall police said he was found around 7 p.m. at a McDonald's restaurant in Fairmont. He was eventually extradited back to Pennsylvania, and since June 4 he has remained in the Butler County Prison on $25,000 bail.

Following testimony, Helsel asked Haggerty to dismiss most of the charges, questioning the strength of the prosecution's case.

He argued there was no evidence presented that his client was in the victim's house. He also noted that Lambing was not found with any of the reported stolen property, including the guns.

Scarpo said that for the purpose of the preliminary hearing, the testimony offered was sufficient to bind the charges for court.

“At this juncture,” she said, “the commonwealth is entitled to all reasonable inferences and, albeit circumstantial, evidence.”