Clarion Man Caught Rummaging in Vehicle Waives Hearing

Aly Delp

Aly Delp

Published November 19, 2020 5:28 am
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CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) — A Clarion man waived his hearing on Tuesday on charges from an incident where he was reportedly caught rummaging through a vehicle in Clarion Borough.

According to court documents, the following charges against 78-year-old James Ralph Rhoades were waived for court on November 17:

– Theft From A Motor Vehicle, Misdemeanor 3
– Loitering And Prowling At Night Time, Misdemeanor 3

The charges have been transferred to the Clarion County Court of Common Pleas.

Rhoades remains free after being released on his own recognizance.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred in Clarion Borough in mid-October.

Details of the case:

According to a criminal complaint, around 12:36 a.m. on Wednesday, October 14, Officer Maxwell, of the Clarion Borough Police Department, was dispatched to a report of a vehicle being broken into. Clarion County 9-1-1 informed Officer Maxwell that the owner of the vehicle, a local bar owner, witnessed a male in his vehicle and was now following the suspect on foot in an attempt to stop him from escaping.

The suspect was described as an older white male in a green hoodie, the complaint notes.

At the scene, Officer Maxwell located a man fitting the given description and identified him as James Rhoades.

The victim was with Rhoades, preventing him from entering an apartment building on South 6th Avenue, in which Rhoades resides. Officer Maxwell then made contact with Rhoades, who the complaint notes was wearing a backpack and had his hands in his hoodie pocket, according to the complaint.

Rhoades was ordered to remove his hands from his pocket, and he complied. He then put his hands back into his hoodie and was ordered to remove them again and remove his backpack. He was then patted down, and a small pocket knife was removed from his possession, the complaint states.

When asked if he had been in the victim’s vehicle, Rhoades reportedly admitted he was and said: “It was stupid,” and that he should not have been (there). He also stated that he did not take anything and noted there was “nothing in the vehicle to take,” which the complaint notes clearly demonstrated his intentions in searching the vehicle, according to the complaint.

Police then went with the victim to look at the vehicle in question, a 2005 Chevrolet Suburban, which was parked in the lot behind a Main Street bar in an area used for parking by tenants of the apartments above the business.

The victim told police he was out walking his dog when he saw the front passenger side door to his vehicle was open and noticed Rhoades leaning inside the vehicle, looking around in the center console area. The victim noted he planned to sell the vehicle and had cleaned it out and had already removed anything of value. However, he also noted the keys were inside the vehicle.

The victim reported he then confronted Rhoades, and Rhoades stated he didn’t take anything from the vehicle and began to walk away. The victim noted nothing appeared to have been taken, but he followed Rhoades until police arrived, the complaint states.

Police also searched the backpack Rhoades was carrying but did not find anything suspicious, the complaint indicates.

Charges were filed against Rhoades through Magisterial District Judge Duane L. Quinn’s office on October 16.

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