Lehighton man jailed on theft charges after fleeing police
A Lehighton man faces burglary and other charges after breaking into a garage and shed at the East Penn Sporting Club on Sunday.
Steven Brownmiller, 62, was arraigned by District Judge William Kissner Thursday morning on charges of burglary, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, criminal mischief and loitering and prowling at night.
He was jailed in the Carbon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $150,000 bail. A preliminary hearing before District Judge Beth Dodson is scheduled Aug. 13.
Franklin Township police assisted state police Wednesday with a foot pursuit of Brownmiller, after he fled his vehicle in the area of Maiden Lane in Lehighton, crossed the Lehigh River and continued running.
At the time, Brownmiller had been last seen in the area of the 100 to 200 block of Long Run Road, according to information released on social media by department.
According to court papers, state police investigated a reported burglary at the East Penn Sporting Club at 61 Club Lane in East Penn Township.
The club president reported a detached, locked garage had been broken into and numerous items, such as tools, an air compressor, a floor creeper and full gas can were taken, court papers said.
A wooden storage shed was also forcibly entered and a 65-foot retractable extension cord had been cut and removed from the main building at the property.
The value of the items taken was $430 and the property damage is $350, court papers said.
Troopers reviewed video surveillance showing a white man in a minivan on the property Sunday at 1:30 a.m., backing into the area between the main building and detached garage and placing items into the van through a missing back window.
Images were disseminated to the media and law enforcement outlets, and West Penn officer John Kaczmarczyk identified the man as Brownmiller from a prior traffic stop when he was driving a maroon minivan. Troopers identified the same vehicle from surveillance images from the sporting club.
The minivan is registered to Brownmiller’s mother, who told troopers that her son operates the vehicle and that he accidentally shattered the window by closing it on a bicycle, court papers said.
She viewed the images from the sporting club, and identified her son as the man in the video, court papers said.
Troopers also compared a tattoo on the man’s arm in the surveillance to Brownmiller’s previous arrest records.