Mitchell Ferguson

EVANS CITY — The most serious charge has been withdrawn against a Connoquenessing Township man accused of forcing his way into a next-door neighbor's home.

But Mitchell J. Ferguson, 32, still faces a felony charge for allegedly breaking into the house on Rolling Valley Lane earlier this month. State police suspect he may have been impaired on drugs.

A prosecutor at Ferguson's scheduled preliminary hearing Tuesday before District Judge Wayne Seibel in Evans City agreed to withdraw a charge of burglary, a first-degree felony, in the case.

Ferguson subsequently waived to court five other charges, including trespass, a second-degree felony, as well as a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and summary counts of harassment, criminal mischief and public drunkenness.

The decision to withdraw the burglary charges was “based on the evidence that we had,” said David Beichner, an assistant district attorney, following the proceedings.

He said the other charges “adequately” cover the “actual actions” of Ferguson that night.

The alleged victim told investigators that she was in her bedroom around 6 p.m. when she heard a loud noise coming from the main door at her home, police said. She went to check and found Ferguson inside.

She also recounted seeing that her door, which had been locked, was open with pieces of it on the living room floor, police said.

The intruder ran toward her and apparently asked where his girlfriend was, according to charging documents. He then went out the door and ran into the woodline behind the victim's backyard.

Troopers found the defendant at his home. His jeans were covered in mud, police said, and he was sweating and appeared out of breath.

“Ferguson spontaneously uttered that he had broken into (his neighbor's) residence,” documents said, “because he (thought) his girlfriend was in trouble,” documents said.

Police said he admitted to forcing in the door by running into it shoulder-first.

Later, police contacted the defendant's girlfriend, who told them that he had recently been using methamphetamine, according to the documents, “and he had been acting abnormal.”

Under state law, a burglary involves the act of entering a building or a property with the intent to commit a crime inside. Trespass is when the suspect enters or remains in a building or property without the consent of the owner or refuses to leave when told.

“I don't think there (was) an intent to commit a crime inside the residence,” said Ferguson's attorney, public defender Maura Palumbi.

Ferguson remains in the Butler County Prison on $45,000 bond.

He also is facing unrelated charges in three other cases.

In one of those cases, state police said he stole an antique Yugoslavian SKS rifle Jan. 4 from his mother's house in Clay Township.

Ferguson and his girlfriend later allegedly sold the rifle at a gun store in Washington Township, according to court documents. He is charged with felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property.

In another case, state police accused him of breaking into a vehicle on Casper Lane in Clay Township Oct. 11 and taking a keychain containing a key fob. He is charged with misdemeanor counts of theft and receiving stolen property.

Butler Township police, meanwhile, charged Ferguson last week with driving under the influence stemming from a Sept. 25 traffic stop on Route 8.

He is awaiting his preliminary hearings in those three other cases.