VENANGO CO., Pa. (EYT) — Police say a Franklin man took his toddlers with him while he broke into a residence on Tuesday.
According to court documents, on Tuesday, May 12, the Sugarcreek Borough Police Department filed criminal charges against 30-year-old Jeffrey Scott Mercer.
Around 2:33 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, Sugarcreek Borough Police were dispatched to a residence on Circle Street in Sugarcreek Borough for a report of an unknown male in the residence, according to a criminal complaint.
While the officers were on their way, they received information from 9-1-1 reporting the resident said the man was now out in front of the house.
According to the complaint, when police arrived at the scene, they identified the man as Jeffrey Scott Mercer, and noted he had his two children, ages two and four, with him.
The complaint states the victim reported he was at work when he received a phone call from his 13-year-old daughter who said she had locked herself in a room because there was an unknown man in the house. The victim then rushed home, and found Mercer standing at the end of a hallway in the victim’s house with two children.
According to the complaint, police noted Mercer appeared to be under the influence. He allegedly made statements that his uncle was in the house and yelled for him to come out. He also told police that “people had called him and told him to come to the house” to meet someone.
Police then spoke to the victim’s daughter, who reported she was in the shower and thought she heard aggressive pounding on the exterior door of the house. She said that at one point she could hear children’s voices and thought that a family member had stopped by. She then saw a pair of shoes in the house and through maybe her brother had come home. She then heard the children again and realized someone was in the house, at which point she locked herself in a room and called her father, the complaint indicates.
Mercer was arraigned in front of Magisterial District Judge Patrick E. Lowrey at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, on the following charges:
– Burglary — Overnight Accommodations; Person Present, Felony 1
– Corruption of Minors, Misdemeanor 1 (two counts)
He was lodged in the Venango County Jail and denied bail, with the bail action reason listed in the court document as “currently out on bail for another burglary.”
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on May 20, with Judge Lowrey presiding.
Court documents indicate similar charges against Mercer from a previous incident in Utica Borough were waived for court on Wednesday, February 12. That case, as well as another case related to drug charges against Mercer, both continue to make their way through the court system.
