District Court: Burglary, Theft and DUIs

The following people were charged and waived their scheduled March. 2 preliminary hearings before .

A Callery man charged with stealing copper from homes and businesses will be formally arraigned on April 10.

Nathaniel Joseph Baxter, 20, of Kline Avenue, was charged with burglary, theft, criminal mischief, receiving stolen property, conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to commit theft.

reported they began to work with other law enforcement agencies in Butler County in 2011 to investigate thefts from across the area.

According to the criminal complaint, Baxter and Russell Steven Hoffman stole a large amount of copper wiring and piping from a home on Kline Avenue in Callery over a period of several weeks in Fall 2010.

They then sold the copper for cash at various scrap yards. The total amount of damage to the Kline Avenue property was valued at $31,785, according to the criminal compliant.

Hoffman, 21, of Valencia, also faces a long list of burglary and theft charges in Butler County.

The complaint said Baxter, Hoffman and another man also stole copper wiring Nov. 12 from ASCC Inc. on Wisconsin Avenue in Cranberry. Sales receipts show Baxter, Hoffman and the other man sold the copper wiring to a scrap yard in Middlesex Township.

Police said Baxter and Hoffman on Nov. 26 also attempted to sell more than $2,000 worth of equipment and merchandise they had stolen from Dietrich Tree Service on James Street in Valencia.

DUI

• Timothy Patrick O’Connor, 53, of Route 68, New Brighton, was charged with driving under the influence and failure to stop at a red light on a traffic signal. Cranberry police reported O’Connor drove through a red light on Route 228 after pulling off the northbound exit ramp of Interstate 79. O’Connor refused a blood alcohol test, according to the criminal complaint.

The following people were charged and held for court after their scheduled March. 2 preliminary hearings before .

Jessica Carolyn Fay Dodson, 33, of Voskamp Street, Pittsburgh, was charged with retail theft and conspiracy to commit retail theft. Cranberry police report they were called about 2:30 p.m. Oct. 17 to the on Route 19 after a loss prevention officer at the store reported a retail theft. According to the criminal complaint, Dodson assisted Sabrina Haun, 30, of Pittsburgh, in attempting to leave the store with items they did not pay for.

According to the criminal complaint, the total value of the stolen merchandise was $1,074. The items were not damaged and were returned to the store, the complaint said. Haun pleaded guilty to the theft on March 6; she will be sentenced April 19 before Butler County Common Pleas Judge William Shaffer.

DUI

• Kevin Michael Price, 49, of Galer Drive, Cranberry, was charged with driving under the influence, driving under the influence at the highest rate of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.002 or greater while having a suspended license. According to Cranberry police, Price was stopped Sept. 17 at a DUI checkpoint that the Butler County DUI Task Force set up on Route 19 near the . Police said Price had a suspended license at the time he was stopped from a prior DUI. His blood alcohol content was 0.117 percent, exceeding the state’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.