Trimbur

A Pittsburgh man was arrested Saturday in connection with a string of thefts spanning one month and three counties.

Cranberry Township Police filed charges Sunday against Chad P. Trimbur, 47, including four felony thefts, four felony possession of stolen property, felony fleeing from an officer, misdemeanor resisting arrest and misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

Pittsburgh Police arrested Trimbur on Saturday after he visited Northside Scrap Metals in Pittsburgh. Police took Trimbur to the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Pittsburgh, where state police assisting with the investigation interviewed him.

“Trimbur was Mirandized and agreed to cooperate with the investigation and admitted to committing (multiple crimes) and other crimes that occurred in other jurisdictions,” said the investigating officer in the affidavit.

Trimbur was then arraigned Sunday morning in Butler County, denied bail and placed in Butler County Prison.

Cranberry Township Police said they first encountered Trimbur around 2:51 a.m. Dec. 10. Police said they saw a green 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee traveling west on Route 228. Police said they saw the Jeep attempt a right turn onto Dutilh Road and crash into an embankment, then into a stop sign, before continuing.

Police chased the Jeep for about a half mile with lights and sirens until it crashed a second time at the intersection of Freedom Road and McIntyre Lane.

Police said they saw Trimbur exit the Jeep and run into the woods near the intersection of Haldeman and Sherwood drives.

“(The officer) proceeded after the male on foot and heard him shout, 'Don't follow me, I have a gun,'” police said.

Police said the Jeep was found stolen from Penn Hills, and that Middlesex Township, Adams Township and Evans City-Seven Fields Regional police departments had also seen or tried to stop the Jeep before the run-in with Cranberry police. Police said a spike strip had been used at one point, but was unsuccessful.

Police said they later spoke with the Jeep's owner, who told officers they found items in the vehicle that were not theirs, including clothes, tools and food. Police said the Jeep's owner had also taken the vehicle to be repaired.

“(The Jeep owner) advised that the service garage indicated there were parts of catalytic converters in the vehicle, which suggested (Trimbur) may have been involved in converter thefts,” police said.

Police said an employee at the service garage also found a Home Depot receipt and a calendar for a scrapyard.

Police said Home Depot security footage showed Trimbur entering the store, buying items and leaving the store. Police said it also showed him driving away in the stolen Jeep.

Police said they spoke with an employee of Northside Scrap Metals, who identified Trimbur from multiple photographs.

“(The employee) also indicated that Trimbur frequently brings in catalytic converters to sell as scrap,” police said. “(The employee) advised that Trimbur claimed that he obtains the converters from a friend whom works at a vehicle junkyard.”

According to police, during their investigation, they suspected Trimbur had stolen a box truck around 7 a.m. Dec. 10 from a business on the 200 block of Executive Drive in Cranberry Township.

Police said the GPS on the vehicle showed it stopped in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood, where Pittsburgh Police found it wrecked and abandoned.

Also included in the criminal complaint were dispatch reports for other thefts in the county, including a go-kart valued at about $1,500 from a Cranberry Township business, and an RV valued at about $20,000 from a Jackson Township business.

Police said while routinely checking in at the scrapyard they noticed Trimbur drive into it in a pickup truck, which he was suspected of stealing.

Police said the pickup had been stolen from a property in Hempfield Township, Mercer County, the same place an abandoned U-Haul box truck was found. Police said the U-Haul was reported stolen from Pittsburgh.

Trimbur is scheduled to appear Jan. 21 for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Kevin Flaherty.