Police say man who broke into Washington Township building returned to confess

Washington Township police accused a man of breaking into a building used for storage along Greensburg Road after an employee saw a pickup speed off and then return while police were on the scene investigating.

Robert Allen Gill, 39, of the 1200 block of Sixth Avenue in Ford City was charged with a felony count of criminal trespass in connection with the alleged Nov. 9 incident. He was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond to await a preliminary hearing Jan. 29 before District Judge Jason Buczak.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that a man who works for the owner of the former commercial building arrived shortly after noon to pick up some lumber that was being stored there and saw a black Toyota Tacoma pickup near the roll-up doors at the rear of the building.

The employee told police he saw a man leave the building, get into the truck and speed off. While fleeing, the pickup’s mirror hit a tree and broke off, the complaint said.

The employee got a partial number from the license plate and only saw enough of the man to describe him as white and wearing a tassel cap, the complaint said.

Police noted in the complaint that the area outside the roll-up doors is overgrown with brush and not used regularly, but there appeared to be fresh boot prints in a layer of dust inside the building.

While an officer was questioning the employee about the incident, a black Toyota pickup with a missing side mirror pulled into the lot, the complaint said.

Gill told the officer: “It was me. I was looking around for stuff to scrap,” the complaint said.

Gill said he fled because he was afraid but then returned, the complaint said. He told police he did not take anything from the building, which is used to store vehicles and other items, police said.

The pattern on the Merrell boots Gill was wearing matched the boot prints left in the dusty building, the complaint said.

The owner of the building said he could not determine whether Gill removed anything, police said.

In June 2018, Gill pleaded guilty in Lawrence County Court to a felony count of retail theft filed the previous year by Union Township police and was sentenced to a year in jail and a year of probation, court records show.

In 2017, Gill also pleaded guilty in Mercer County Court to a felony count of retail theft filed by Hermitage police and was sentenced to up to two years in jail, according to court records.