Rush Township police are filing multiple charges against three suspects involved in a local burglary ring, who stole from and damaged more than 20 properties in Schuylkill, Carbon, and Lehigh counties stretching as far back as seven months.

Rush Township Police Officer Sgt. Duane Frederick, with the help of fellow officers, solved the robberies after spending the last few weeks serving search warrants, inventorying confiscated items and interviewing suspects at homes and prisons in multiple counties.The three suspects are lodged in the Schuylkill County prison with multiple charges, ranging from retail theft, receiving stolen property, breaking and entering, vandalism, and providing false indentification.The trio consists of Frederick A. Postie, 40, of 626 Fairview St. in Rush Township; Stephanie Keck, 33, of 36 East Ludlow St. in Summit Hill; and Kerry L. Frank, 30, also of 36 East Ludlow St. The three have admitted to doing the burglaries, police said, which started in September of 2011.Many items were recovered during search warrants and interviews, including guns, an electric water heater, a PPL power meter, paintings, flat screen televisions, a washer and dryer, copper pipes, wiring, power tools and many other items. They are facing charges of burglary, criminal conspiracy, theft, receiving stolen property, trespass; as well as many other charges, to include the operation of a marijuana house."Nesquehoning and Summit Hill police departments assisted in a big way regarding related interviews and search warrants,." Frederick said. "Other people linked to the trio are facing charges."Prior to this, Postie and Keck were involved in a retail theft ring that went as far as Maryland," Frederick added. "They were on probation from Northumberland County and elsewhere for those crimes."Multiple homes and businesses were burglarized in Rush Township, Packer Township, West Penn Township and various communities in Carbon County."In addition to ripping copper pipes and wiring from these properties, the trio would steal tens of thousands of dollars worth of items and also intentionally cause damage to the properties, such as filling basements with water, smashing holes in walls and spraying fire extinguishers," Frederick added.Reportedly, all three used their jobs and resources on the Internet to survey which homes were vacant. Kerry, who worked for different garbage companies over the past few years, helped in seeing which homes were up for sale and what new homes were being built, while Keck, who delivered newspapers, also provided names of people not home, police said.Postie, who was unemployed, would utilize the Internet and realtors' websites to search for homes that were up for sale, police explained. The damage to the homes, some ranging from $20,000 to $30,000, reached as high as $60,000, at a Summit Hill home.Frederick pointed out that the main goal was to get copper to fuel their drug addiction. Police said there are still many homes that the trio admitted to burglarizing, although their locations and jurisdictions are unknown.The investigation is ongoing and anyone with more information or who thinks they might have been a victim of this trio is asked to call Rush Township police at (570) 668-4242.