Hiram G. Andrews Center security guard stole, resold equipment
Upper Yoder Township PA July 21 2018
A security guard at Hiram G. Andrews Center in Upper Yoder Township was jailed on Thursday, accused of stealing $19,000 worth of portable radios and other devices from the education facility.
Some of the stolen items were later sold on eBay, authorities said.
Upper Yoder Township police Chief Donald Hess charged Nicholas P. Varner, 38, of the 1000 block of Willow Beach Road, Portage, with felony counts of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property.
Varner also was charged with one misdemeanor count of theft by deception.
According to a criminal complaint, the chief security officer at the Goucher Street campus reported to police on May 11 that 13 Motorola digital portable radios – along with chargers, batteries, microphones and other accessories – were taken from a storage room sometime between January and May.
The security officer told police that seven to 10 people had access to the storage room.
Some of the stolen items later turned up on eBay, the complaint said. Police said they obtained a search warrant for the eBay account and tracked the seller to a business in Ebensburg.
Varner allegedly sold the items to the business, which later resold some of the items on eBay, the complaint said.
“I took him into custody when he arrived at work at 4 p.m. (Thursday),” Hess said. “He gave me a full written confession.”
Varner was arraigned by on-call District Judge Mary Ann Zanghi, of Vinco, and sent to Cambria County Prison after failing to post 10 percent of $50,000 bond.
The Tribune Democrat
