A Nesquehoning man faces theft and escape charges after breaking into a railroad employee’s vehicle and then attempting to flee custody late last week, arrest papers say.

Michael McFadden Jr., 38, of Coal Street, was arraigned by District Judge Edward Lewis on charges of criminal mischief, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and defiant trespass, as well as theft and escape, which are felonies.

McFadden was committed to the Carbon County Correctional Facility in Nesquehoning, unable to post $100,000 bail set by Lewis. A preliminary hearing is tentatively set for Wednesday.

According to court papers, Reading & Northern Railroad police learned that a man was trying to break into a maintenance vehicle on the Nesquehoning Campus on June 12.

Officers saw a man in blue jeans with no shirt or shoes running around an employee’s truck parked along the railroad tracks and noticed the driver’s side window of the blue pickup was smashed out and the door ajar.

The man, later identified as McFadden, was very sporadic, running back and forth, and then partially jumped over the bed of the vehicle and then jumped back onto the ground.

McFadden was ordered to get down on the ground, and he darted into the cab of the truck, and railroad police removed him from inside, court papers said.

McFadden was taken into custody and asked why he broke into the truck. He told officers, “He needed to go see his wife and kids,” arrest papers said.

He was taken to the railroad office and refused to provide his name or date of birth, and Nesquehoning police assisted with identifying him.

While in custody, McFadden stood up from the chair, lowered a shoulder and charged an officer, attempting to escape the room and custody, court papers said.