Charges added to list for man in county jail
Charges continue to mount for a man already behind bars in connection with two felony cases.
Butler police is the latest department to charge Delmar E. Silk, 60, who has no known address.
Silk has been in the Butler County Prison since Aug. 21 after state police allegedly caught him passed out in a stolen car in Brady Township.
On Tuesday, Butler police filed three cases against the defendant. In one, he allegedly stole a GMC box truck Aug. 15 from Steinmiller Woodworking on the 300 block of East Jefferson Street.
The truck was found the next day parked behind Hovis Auto on the 400 block of West Jefferson Street in Butler, police said.
Surveillance cameras captured the crime, according to investigators, and led to Silk's identification as a suspect.
During a police interview Aug. 23, according to investigators, he admitted to stealing the truck. He is charged with felony theft.
In a second Butler police case, Silk is accused of stealing property valued at $2,627 from a vehicle at the Monroe Hotel on the 400 block of East Jefferson Street.
But before taking the items, which included sports equipment and a key fob, the defendant had a steak dinner at the hotel and allegedly skipped out on the $22.91 bill.
Security video also played a key role in solving those crimes, police said, and he admitted to both. He also helped officers recover some of the stolen items.
Police charged Silk with theft from a vehicle, a misdemeanor, and theft of services, a summary.
In the third case, city police charged him with summary criminal mischief for allegedly slashing two tires on a car Aug. 19 that was parked on the 200 block of North Main Street.
State police initially arrested Silk after troopers, responding to a 911 call, found him around 7:40 a.m. Aug. 21 on Lindey Road near Route 528 in Brady Township.
He allegedly was drunk and unresponsive in a Pontiac G6, court documents said. Police subsequently learned that the car had been reported stolen Aug. 19 from the 300 block of East Jefferson Street in Butler.
Police said Silk told them that he did not know how he ended up there.
He was arraigned on a felony charge of receiving stolen property and placed in the Butler County Prison in lieu of $20,000 bond.
A search of the stolen car, police said, turned up a purse containing items valued at a combined $75.
That purse had earlier been reported stolen during a burglary around 2 a.m. Aug. 21 from a home on Golden Lane in Connoquenessing Township.
Silk confessed to the break-in during an Aug. 23 interview, police said.
He allegedly recounted that he entered the home through an unlocked door. He was looking for money, he allegedly said, when he found the purse and took it.
He was arraigned Sunday on charges of burglary, a felony, and misdemeanor theft. He was given an additional $35,000 bond.
