A Trout Run area man has been arrested on burglary-related charges for stealing a woman's purse from her Grampian Boulevard home after he illegally entered the property through an unlocked door, city police said.
Walter Matthew Shaw, 24, of 1229 Lower Bodines Road, Lewis Township, is accused of entering Amy Mintzer's home in the 100 block of Grampian Boulevard through a unlocked front door about 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 6, police said.
Mintzer told police that when she went downstairs, a man, later identified as Shaw, told her he needed money for gas, so she gave him $50.
Mintzer thought the man may have been a friend of her son's because the intruder apparently was acquainted with a mutual friend, police said.
Hour later, Mintzer discovered her purse, with $800 in it, missing, police said.
The purse was later turned into police by someone who found it in a vehicle Shaw was driving the night he allegedly was in the woman's house, according to an affidavit.
Shaw is "addicted to crack cocaine," according to court papers.
He was arraigned last week before District Judge Allen P. Page III on charges of burglary, trespassing, theft and receiving stolen property and released on $15,000 bail.
