Several plea court hearings are scheduled for today in Indiana County Court including one for a man charged with burglarizing a business on Christmas Eve last year.
Court documents show 21-year-old Jacob Allan Lawson of Blairsville will go before Indiana County President Judge Thomas Bianco today to enter pleas to charges of burglary, criminal trespass, theft, possessing an instrument of crime and criminal mischief connected with the December 24th burglary at the Top Shelf tobacco shop in the 800 block of Wayne Avenue. Police were called out for two burglar alarm activations at the business in the early morning hours. The owner of the business turned over surveillance video and police were able to see two men, identified as Lawson and 22-year-old Bailey Charles Edwards of Indiana, actively burglarizing the store. The suspects fled before police got there, but they were found nearby and were taken into custody.
Edwards has already pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary, and was sentenced in June to one month to one year in jail, and two years of probation upon his release.
Also due for plea hearings today are:
- 32-year-old Bradley Borg of New Kensington, who is charged with strangulation, simple assault, criminal mischief and harassment for an incident on October 30th of last year.
- 26-year-old Dustin Charles Dewitt of New Alexandria, who is charged with terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment for an incident on October 17th of last year.
- And two plea court hearings are set for 28-year-old Michael Buchinsky of Saltsburg. In one case he was charged with terroristic threats in February of 2020, and in the other, he is charged with receiving stolen property and conspiracy to theft by deception for an incident on May 20th of 2020.
