Published: October 17, 2009 11:50 pm      

Burglar rams store with pickup

FLINTON — Someone backed a pickup into the Double K Convenience Store in Reade Township to gain entry, then tried to smash open an ATM, state police said.

The burglar backed into the store about 11:05 p.m. Friday, causing major damage to the exterior and interior of the store and items inside, police said. The damage activated an alarm system.

Once inside the northern Cambria County store, the criminal tried to break into the ATM with a sledge hammer.

When that failed, the burglar took Marlboro cigarettes and a bag of cigarette tobacco.

The truck left headed south on Route 53, police said Saturday.

The break-in was discovered when the owner arrived to check the alarm activation.

The truck was described as a dark, full-size Ford extended-cab pickup, possibly a 1991-1996 model. The truck had white rear fender panels on both sides.

Anyone with information may contact state police in Ebensburg: 471-6500.

In other police-related news:

• The wiring circuits for the summer festival held at Crichton McCormick Park in Portage were stolen between Oct. 8 and Saturday.

The electrical circuits were taken from the park’s maintenance building and were valued at $5,000, said state police in Ebensburg. The victim was listed as the Portage Recreation Commission.

Police are looking for tips.

• Indiana Borough police said 45 to 50 vehicles in the 1st, 3rd and 4th wards were “egged” overnight Friday into Saturday.

Vehicles also were egged in neighboring White Township.

Empty egg cartons were left around the targeted vehicles, borough police said.

• A Westmoreland County credit union was among the victims of a $2 million credit union Ponzi scheme that resulted in the arrest of a Beaver man.

Attorney General Tom Corbett said Friday that Eugene D. Miley, 58, served as a financial broker for clients, including three credit unions in southwestern and northeastern Pennsylvania.

Miley offered to locate and purchase high-interest-rate certificates of deposit for those institutions. But instead of buying CDs, he diverted the money for his own use and depended on new credit union purchases to pay off older, fraudulent “investments,” Corbett said.

Stanwood Area Credit Union in New Stanton was defrauded of $99,000 in fictitious CDs between 2006 and 2008, he said. The other defrauded credit unions were in Armstrong County and Wilkes-Barre.