Published: February 16, 2009 11:23 pm      

Meyersdale man held in car thefts

A month after the crime, Meyersdale police said Monday they have arrested the borough man responsible for taking nearly $1,000 in stereo equipment from three cars.

Police said James Eugene Betz, 19, of the 200 block of Center Street, was laid off from his employer during the thefts overnight Jan. 11-12. He said he needed the money to pay utilities.

Borough police said Betz walked around to unlocked vehicles and quickly decided whether or not he would remove the radio.

Police said individuals whose vehicles were broken into include:

• Floyd Hetrick, 2001 Ford F-150 pickup parked in the 200 block of Broadway Street, system valued at $342.

• Brittany Gall, 1995 Honda Accord, 400 block of Beachley Street, $300.

• Leon Sines, 1995 Chevy Beretta, 200 block of Lincoln Avenue, $258.

Betz reportedly began trying to pawn the stolen electronics but authorities couldn’t find him.

Betz was arrested in the early morning hours Sunday after authorities investigated an assault on an 18-year-old near Large and Cherry streets.

The victim identified Betz as his assailant.

Summit Township police assisted in this investigation.

As the arrest was unfolding, police said the suspect became violent and struggled with police. A township officer fell on the ice and suffered a minor injury.

Betz was jailed in lieu of $20,000 bond set by District Judge Joseph Cannoni of Windber. His charges include three counts of theft from a motor vehicle, three of receiving stolen property, aggravated assault, escape, reckless endangerment and possession of marijuana.

In other crime-related news:

• State police in Somerset are asking for the public’s help in solving a burglary at the Quecreek Mine in Lincoln Township. Troopers said burglars entered a building there on Jan. 29 and made off with various amounts of money from the locker-room area.

Anyone with information can contact state police: 445-4104.

• Joseph Clark, as anticipated, has filed an appeal to the state Superior Court challenging his first-degree murder conviction in the Bedford County slaying of Holly Notestine.

Clark, 49, of Everett, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at SCI-Camp Hill.

Notestine’s skeletal remains were found March 27, 2004.

Prosecutors said she had been stabbed 17 times.

Clark was arrested and charged in 2005 and eventually was convicted last year.

In late January, Bedford County Judge Daniel Howsare dismissed Clark’s motion for a new trial.