By Karen Blackledge
DANVILLE — A man charged with stealing more than $1,000 in cash and tools from a Cooper Township business claims he is innocent because of mental health problems.
The man, Kevin James McCarthy, 33, of Bloomsburg, told police he has blackouts. His wife told officers that McCarthy is schizophrenic and doesn’t always know what he is doing.
The theft occurred at 4:20 a.m. Saturday at Keystone Fuel Services & Key Trucking at 1406 Montour Blvd.
State police at Milton said the business owner, Raymond Harvey, and an employee, Joshua Laudenslager, were working on trucks when a man later identified as McCarthy opened the door to the garage, then turned around and left. Harvery and Laudenslager saw the man — who was wearing tan shoes, tan pants and a red and gray flannel shirt — get in a tan van and head north on Route 11.
They followed in a pickup truck and saw the van park in a driveway at 105 Quarry Drive, Bloomsburg.
Back at the business, Harvey found the office ransacked and $600 in money missing. Also missing were a torque wrench, $405 in partly burned cash and a Pittsburgh Steelers pen set with a tire gauge.
Troopers went to the Quarry Drive address and found a torque wrench lying on the kitchen table. Other stolen items were found in the McCarthy home, they added.
McCarthy was reportedly in bed when troopers arrived. When his wife got him out of bed so troopers could talk with him, he was wearing a gray and red flannel shirt, police said. When McCarthy arrived at the state police station for an interview, he was wearing tan shoes, police said.
McCarthy was arraigned by on-call Catawissa District Judge Craig Long and committed to the Montour County jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.
