Berks trio donned Halloween masks for nocturnal theft of catalytic converter from Morgan Truck Body
Jul. 14—Three Berks County residents, one of whom is already in Berks County Prison, face felony charges as a result of a state police-led investigation into the theft of a catalytic converter from Morgan Truck Body and its sale.
Two of the suspects, Alyson Wentz, 33, Lower Alsace Township, and David Elliott Jr., 40, whose last known permanent address was on Green Valley Road in Lower Heidelberg Township, are no strangers to law enforcement.
Elliott has been held in the county jail in lieu of $100,000 bail since his arrest in June by Central Berks Regional police on unrelated theft charges. Investigators there said he stole three four-wheel vehicles known as UTVs (utility task vehicles) from farms in Oley Township and sold one of them to a local man he met at a party.
Wentz has multiple convictions on drug charges. Early this year Berks County Judge M. Theresa Johnson handed down a county prison sentence of 63 days to one year followed by probation after Wentz pleaded guilty to charges brought by state police.
With the new charges, which include two counts theft of secondary metal and single counts of trespassing and criminal mischief, state police say the pair drove to New Morgan with two other people on Oct. 22.
The mission was to steal a catalytic converter, a mandatory part of a vehicle's emission system, so the suspects could sell the precious-metal component for cash to feed their drug habits.
Along with Wentz and Elliott, state police on June 30 charged Joshua A. Gregg, 35, of the 200 block of Midway Avenue, Maidencreek Township, who faces identical charges.
Troopers said the converter was valued at $2,543, which does not include repair costs to the damaged vehicle.
According to court documents:
On June 9, Trooper George Bailey with the Reading-based Troop L criminal investigations unit interviewed a witness who had knowledge of the crimes at Morgan Truck Body and provided details of the crime.
The witness said her involvement began when she was at Wentz's residence in the first block of Wanshop Road in Lower Alsace Township. Elliott and Gregg arrived and asked her and Wentz if they wanted to do a job with them.
Both women indicated they were willing.
They headed for the Morgantown area.
After arriving at Morgan Truck Body, the witness said she, Elliott and Wentz, all wearing Halloween masks, got out of the vehicle while Gregg, the driver, stayed behind the wheel.
Working in darkness, Elliott cut a converter from underneath a white truck using a battery-powered reciprocating saw.
He then tried unsuccessfully to enter buildings on the premises.
The witness told Bailey that Elliott was only able to harvest the single converter so they left for the second part of what turned out to be an all-night affair.
The foursome drove to Scranton, about 115 miles, where they met a person known as Catmandoo who paid Elliott for the converter. With Gregg driving the entire way, they returned to Berks.
Elliott was held for court in the UTV theft charges after a preliminary hearing Wednesday before District Judge Steven M. Chieffo in Oley.
He's being held in the county jail in lieu of a combined total of $300,000 bail while he awaits further court action in the pending cases.
Wetnz hasn't been arraigned on the charges, and the disposition of her case wasn't immediately clear.
Gregg was arraigned Tuesday before District Judge Brian K. Strand in Reading Central Court and is being held in the county jail in lieu of $10,000 bail to await a hearing.
