Man accused of trespassing at home again
An accused serial trespasser seemingly has a thing for a certain house in Butler.
City police arrested Andrew J. McCue for the third time this year after they say he broke into the same vacant home last week on the 300 block of West Penn Street.
Investigators can't say for certain why McCue, 33, who is homeless, keeps picking the house. However, the authorities have a theory: McCue's grandparents used to own the home.
Officers' latest call to the house occurred Friday night around 8:15 p.m., when someone reported trespassers at the abandoned home. Police said a second-story window was open when officers arrived. They also saw a man inside.
McCue opened the door a short time later and came out. Police said McCue had drug contraband on him at the time of his arrest, including two empty stamp bags of suspected heroin, a used syringe, metal spoon and a tourniquet.
A search of the house turned up another familiar face. Suellen M. Leitch, 23, of Butler Township was discovered hiding in the attic. She allegedly was in on one of McCue's previous suspected break-ins at the home.
On Saturday, District Judge Bill O'Donnell arraigned both McCue and Leitch on felony counts of trespass. Additionally, McCue was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Each defendant was placed in the Butler County Prison on $10,000 bail.McCue is already waiting trial on felony trespassing charges for the previous two incidents at the home.The first incident occurred Jan. 25 when officers arrested McCue and Leitch after finding the pair at the same house. According to court documents, McCue told police he and Leitch used a piece of wood to pry open the basement door.Police again found McCue inside the home and arrested him March 18. According to court documents in that case, he admitted entering the home through the basement door and staying the night there.Armco Credit Union owns the house, according to the Butler County Assessment Office. But before that, records show McCue's grandparents owned the property for nearly 50 years before selling it in October 2018.In an unrelated case, McCue was arraigned Tuesday on charges of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia stemming from an April 2 arrest in Butler.Police said they found the defendant with four stamp bags of suspected heroin and a syringe on West Locust Street. Officers found McCue while responding to a man acting suspiciously at a North Main Street business.
