KARNS CITY — A suspected car thief's carelessness helped state police solve the crime.

High school dropout Rodney J. Hiles, 18, of Karns City left behind a huge clue in the 2004 GMC Envoy he allegedly stole then abandoned after wrecking it.

Inside the vehicle, police said, were two discipline notices Karns City High School administrators had issued Hiles, then a 12th grade student.

Investigators used those notices to track down Hiles and his alleged accomplice for last fall's burglary of Lee and Sara Scnhell's house on Petrolia Street in Karns City.

Police on Wednesday charged Hiles and Sabatino A. Marano, 19, of East Brady with burglary, conspiracy, trespass, criminal mischief, theft and receiving stolen property.

Both teenagers are in the Butler County Prison on $30,000 bail.

The defendants are accused of breaking into the house between Nov. 27 and Dec. 11, the day the Schnells' daughter discovered the crime and notified police. The homeowners had been away.

Investigators determined a basement window had been broken to get into the house. Stolen was jewelry and a large amount of coins stashed in a plastic jug.

The suspects also made off with the couple's Envoy that had been in the garage.

Police collected fingerprints and other clues. But even before that evidence could be processed, investigators caught a big break. The Envoy was recovered Dec. 13 in a remote area in Donegal Township.

The vehicle had front end damage and had been doused with bleach. The suspects would later tell police they used the bleach to clean up any evidence left behind, according to court documents.

But Hiles apparently forgot to get rid of a shopping bag that contained the disciplinary notices he got before withdrawing from the school in December.

Before long, police searched the suspect's bedroom and turned up numerous pieces of jewelry and collector coins taken in the burglary, documents said. A bottle of pills prescribed to Sara Schnell also was found.

Police said Hiles eventually confessed to the crime and implicated Marano, who he claimed had driven the Envoy around for weeks before it was damaged, then dumped.

Investigators later interviewed Marano, who corroborated Hiles' account, documents said. He said they targeted the house because they knew the owners were out of town.

Marano said he alone hit the house a second time, police said, breaking in and stealing a handgun he later traded for drugs.

Preliminary hearings for the suspects are set for May 11 at the office of District Judge Lewis Stoughton in Chicora.