CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — A man who led local police on a foot pursuit in Clarion Borough was sentenced on theft and criminal trespass charges on Wednesday.
President Judge James Arner on Wednesday, October 3, sentenced 29-year-old Justin Hendricks, of Clarion, to concurrent sentences of six months to two years less one day incarceration at Clarion County Jail on a second-degree misdemeanor count of theft and nine months to two years less one day incarceration on a third-degree felony count of criminal trespass. He will receive credit for 50 days served.
Hendricks will also be required to undergo a drug and alcohol assessment and a mental health assessment, as well as paying costs, refraining from contact with the victims and their families, and. He is also required to do 25 hours of community service.
Details of the cases:
According to a criminal complaint, on Monday, July 9, Officer Wright, of the Clarion Borough Police Department, was dispatched to a residence in Clarion Borough for a report of a theft.
Officer Wright spoke to the victim who said he had two packages delivered at 11:09 a.m., but when he arrived at his residence to retrieve the packages, they were gone. The victim provided Officer Wright with an email confirmation that the packages were delivered by U.S. mail at 11:09 a.m.
According to the victim, the packages contained one green Dopper Carbon Vape, one blue dotMod vape, one yellowish brown vape cover, one stainless steel cap, one blue cap, one green cap, one small stainless steel cap, one plastic straw, and one black vape hat. The victim said the stolen items were valued at approximately $178.00.
According to the complaint, the victim also said that he had spoken to a neighbor who had seen a black male on the adjacent porch looking around. The victim said the neighbor recognized the man as an individual that lived at a residence on Sheridan Road in Clarion Borough. Officer Wright then made contact with the neighbor who confirmed what the victim had stated.
Officer Wright proceeded to the Sheridan Road address and spoke with a staff member there. The staff member said the description matched an individual at the residence, Justin Hendricks, and that he was outside around 11:00 a.m. that day. The staff member said Hendricks was not currently at the residence.
Officer Wright then returned to the victim’s residence, where the victim advised him that another neighbor was approached by the same black male and wanted to speak to police.
According to the complaint, the second neighbor told Officer Wright that she was sitting on her front porch when she was approached by a black man wearing a white shirt and dark-colored basketball shorts.
Officer Wright then returned to the Sheridan Road address, spoke to the staff member there again, and asked what Hendricks was wearing when he was outside earlier that day. The staff member said he was wearing a white shirt and basketball shorts. Officer Wright then asked the staff member to call when Hendricks returned.
Around 3:30 p.m., the staff member called Officer Wright and said Hendricks had returned.
Officers Wright and Zerfoss then proceeded to the Sheridan Road location and had the staff member let Hendricks know they were there to speak to him.
According to the complaint, after Hendricks came out of the residence and the officers introduced themselves, Hendricks immediately stated, “I didn’t steal anything, and I wasn’t on any porch.”
Officer Zerfoss then advised Hendricks that the officers had not asked him about being on a porch or stealing anything. Officer Zerfoss asked Hendricks where he had heard that.
Hendricks said that he “did not hear it from anyone and said that he knew the police had come to talk to him about something,” the complaint states.
Officer Wright then told Hendricks that there were two witnesses that put him in the area of the theft of two U.S. Postal packages.
According to the complaint, Hendricks said that “the witnesses were lying because he was black and that ‘he did not go on any porch or steal any packages.'”
The complaint states that Officer Wright then asked Hendricks to retrieve the packages, and Hendricks asked, “If I took the packages and return them to you, you won’t arrest me, right?” to which Officer Wright responded “no.”
According to the complaint, Hendricks then invited the officers into the residence and led them to the bedroom where he retrieved one green Dopper Carbon Vape, one blue dotMod vape, one yellowish brown vape cover, one stainless steel cap, one blue cap, one green cap, one small stainless steel cap, and one plastic straw. The black vape hat was not recovered.
Officer Wright also asked Hendricks about the packaging from the items. Hendricks led the officers to a dumpster at the Sheridan Road and retrieved the packages from inside of it, the complaint states.
Based on the investigation, charges against Hendricks were filed on Monday, July 16, in Magisterial District Judge Duane L. Quinn’s office.
According to a second criminal complaint, on Tuesday, August 14, Chief William Peck arrived at a residence on Sheridan Road in Clarion Borough to serve a bench warrant on Justin Hendricks for failure to appear in court.
Hendricks jumped from a second story window on the north side of the residence and ran away on foot, leading police on a foot pursuit. During the pursuit, Hendricks attempted to enter an inhabited residence.
On September 5, Hendricks pleaded guilty to one second-degree misdemeanor count of theft by unlawful taking and one third-degree felony count of criminal trespass in the Clarion County Court of Common Pleas.
As a result of the plea agreements, one summary count of disorderly conduct and one second-degree misdemeanor count of flight to avoid apprehension/trial/punishment were dismissed.
