Carl Collins

A Butler man will remain in the county pending burglary and theft charges, after an extradition hearing was held in county court on Wednesday.

Carl E. Collins, 52, will remain in Butler County Prison on a warrant out of Florida pending the disposition of his county case, after President Judge Thomas Doerr denied his extradition request.

Collins was wanted out of Volusia County, Fla., on charges of dealing in stolen property and false owner information on May 10, according to the affidavit of probable cause in that case.

His attorney, public defender Joseph Smith, said the extradition issue has been before the court twice already. Collins first waived extradition, paid $25,000 bond to be released and made plans to return to Florida. But a hurricane swept through and disrupted those plans.

He said Collins was later pulled over for a summary traffic incident and was then rearrested on the Florida warrant. A magisterial district judge then placed a $50,000 bond on the case, and a second hearing was held on Sept. 15 where that bond was changed to nonmonetary, as Collins had already posted the previous $25,000 bond.

Collins was charged in November with felony burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, theft and summary criminal mischief after an incident on July 29.

That is when it was revealed he was wanted in Florida. That extradition was then stayed by Judge Timothy McCune pending the outcome of the new case.

Smith asked for that extradition stay to be withdrawn, as Collins has already posted bond on that issue, posted $20,000 bond on the new Butler County charges and had already waived extradition.

“This is inappropriate because he already waived and posted bond,” he said. “This will be the prosecution's second bite of the apple.”

Doerr upheld that stay, and Collins will remain in Butler to face those charges before being returned to Florida.

Collins was charged in Summit Township alongside his wife, Kathy D. Collins, 42, after an investigation into the burglary of a shed and theft of a safe containing tens of thousands of dollars.

The money was used for gambling and purchasing motorcycles and heroin, state police said.

When arrested, Carl Collins was found carrying about $7,000 and Kathy Collins had nearly $15,000 in her purse, according to police.

Police said their alleged accomplice, Charles E. Feitl, 52, solicited the Collins' to break into his niece's shed at the home on Freeport Road in Summit Township and steal the safe.

Police believe the safe contained about $30,000 as well as jewelry worth another $5,000.

All three suspects are awaiting further court proceedings in Butler County.