Inmate charged with gun theft
The cases keep mounting against a Butler County Prison inmate who was arraigned earlier this week on charges that include stealing a handgun.
Joshua J. Space, 26, of Butler Township confessed that he took the .45-caliber pistol as well as six fentanyl patches from a Saxonburg Road home Jan. 15 in Jefferson Township, state police said.
“He admitted to trading the firearm for drugs,” according to court documents.
In two unrelated cases filed last month, Space is accused of giving a similar account to Butler Township police, acknowledging he stole handguns from two vehicles at separate homes in early September.
Space told township detectives that “he sold the guns to a male that paid him cash, so he could (buy) drugs,” a police affidavit said.
On Tuesday, Senior District Judge Pete Shaffer arraigned Space in Saxonburg on felony theft and other charges in the latest case in Jefferson Township.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 27
Last week, Space waived his preliminary hearing in connection with the Butler Township gun thefts. Those two felony theft cases are now headed for trial.
But those aren't the only ones: Space has five other cases pending in Butler County court.
Those other cases, all from 2018, include drug possession in Butler; two burglaries and several thefts from vehicles, all in Connoquenessing Township; and driving under the influence in Butler Township.
Space has been in the Butler County Prison since Jan. 28 when Butler police arrested him on a bench warrant. Court records showed his combined bail is $115,000.
