More criminal charges were lodged Thursday against accused thief Seth Alan Reeder, who now has admitted to stealing money and other items from numerous unlocked vehicles, most of them in the city's Newberry neighborhood, city police Agent Raymond O. Kontz III said.
Jailed since his arrest by Old Lycoming Township police on Aug. 7, Reeder allegedly entered the vehicles between mid-April and late July, Kontz said in court papers.
A 16-year-old male also has been implicated as an accomplice to Reeder, police said. He has been petitioned into juvenile court.
Among the items Reeder, 20, and the teenager allegedly stole was a handgun that was taken from a woman's pickup truck in the 2700 block of Newberry Street on July 18, Kontz said.
A couple who lives on Reach Road reported that a debit card was stolen from their Ford Escort on May 18, Kontz said. Reeder and the teen allegedly stole the card and then went to an ATM at a Woodlands Bank branch office, where they withdrew $500 from the couple's account, Kontz said.
Kontz also has accused Reeder and the teen of stealing two bank cards and some computer equipment from a victim's car in the 2000 block of Mosser Avenue.
In addition, Reeder and his accomplice entered a garage in the 2800 block of Dove Street and stole a mountain bike that they dumped several blocks away, Kontz alleged.
The two also illegally entered a second garage in the 1200 block of Freed Place and stole tools and a bike, Kontz said. The bike was found in some brush several blocks from the victim's home, he added.
With Reeder's admission to the crimes, "we probably closed out 40 to 50 cases of vehicles being entered illegally," Kontz said Thursday.
Police recovered several stolen items, including a number of iPods that they still are trying to determine who owns them, Kontz said.
Reeder, of 1607 Scott St., was taken from the Lycoming County Prison late Thursday morning and arraigned before District Judge James Carn on multiple counts of theft, receiving stolen property and theft from motor vehicles. He also faces charges of access device fraud, carrying a firearm without a license and corrupting the morals of a minor. He was recommitted in lieu of $50,000 bail.
In addition to the city and Old Lycoming Township police, Reeder already has been charged with similar offenses by the Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police in Jersey Shore and DuBoistown police.
