PAINT TWP., Pa. (EYT) — Two more people who were allegedly involved in several thefts of phone line in Paint Township in 2017 are facing criminal charges.
According to court documents, 38-year-old Autumn Dawn Rudolph, of Pittsburgh, and 48-year-old Edward Michael Stasik, of East Liverpoole, Ohio, have been charged with dozens of offenses relating to the thefts that occurred in a span of nearly a year between March 14, 2017, and January 28, 2018.
Rudolph was arraigned at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, February 19, on the following counts:
– Receiving Stolen Property, Felony 3 (seven counts)
– Conspiracy — Receiving Stolen Property, Felony 3
– Theft of Secondary Metals, Felony 3 (seven counts)
– Conspiracy — Theft of Secondary Metal, Felony 3
– Criminal Mischief-Damage Property, Felony 3 (seven counts)
– Conspiracy — Criminal Mischief-Damage Property, Felony 3
She is free on $50,000.00 unsecured bail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 27.
Stasik is facing the following charges:
– Receiving Stolen Property, Felony 3 (seven counts)
– Conspiracy — Receiving Stolen Property, Felony 3
– Theft of Secondary Metals, Felony 3 (seven counts)
– Conspiracy — Theft of Secondary Metal, Felony 3
– Criminal Mischief-Damage Property, Felony 3 (seven counts)
– Conspiracy — Criminal Mischief-Damage Property, Felony 3
He has yet to be arraigned.
Case details:
According to a criminal complaint filed on February 5 by State Trooper Steven Manns, the police investigation began after sunset on March 14, 2017, when several Verizon customers lost their phone service. Verizon workers called police when they discovered that a 300-feet section of phone line had been cut down.
This same scenario was repeated seven times: July 10-11, 2017; August 8, 2017; August 24-25, 2017; August 27, 2017; December 4, 2017; and December 11, 2017. Verizon customers lost internet and phone communication almost at random. The trend followed the full moon (allowing working at night without flashlights) but also occurred during daylight hours, the complaint states.
One time a tan car was spotted. On another day, a brown car with an Ohio license plate, registered to a known female was spotted, and an unknown white male with brown hair wearing camouflage drove that car away.
Trail cameras were obtained, residents were asked to monitor their phone lines and call the police immediately if landline service was lost. A helicopter checked the scene and state troopers patrolled the area daily.
On Sunday, January 28, 2018, three days before the full moon, residents detected the phone service was out.
Clarion-based State Police were called, and by 9:14 p.m. troopers were in route. The first trooper observed a Jeep backed in beside the burnt-out Dew Drop Inn. When troopers saw the large black phone-wire cut on the ground, they exited their vehicles and heard people running through the wooded area. Additional troopers were called to the area. A State Police helicopter was requested and Terry Jay Fisher was caught and taken into custody.
The search of the wooded rough terrain was suspended until daylight.
On Monday morning, troopers assembled and began searching. Glenn Jeffries was eventually found hiding in the Dew Drop Inn. A records check indicated Fisher and Jeffries are next-door neighbors, from Santron Avenue, Pittsburgh, in a suburb known as Carrick.
An internet search revealed a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article from December 20, 2017, Life and Death on Santron Avenue. The story within that article, along with PA DOT, OH DOT, and records of metal recycling companies, connected four suspects, Glenn Allen Jeffries, Terry Jay Fisher, Autumn Dawn Rudolph, and Edward Michael Stasik to stolen copper telephone wires.
