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Updated 42 minutes ago
A second Somerset County man has been charged by Ligonier Borough police for the theft of about $700 worth of beef from a Giant Eagle store last month.
Police charged James Robert Gary, 37, with retail theft, theft and receiving stolen property before Ligonier District Judge Denise Thiel in connection with the Jan. 18 theft from the store on Walnut Street. Gary is being served via mailed summons, according to court records.
Police allege Gary and Jason Edward Pickford, 30, also of Somerset, loaded a shopping cart with steaks and beef filets, walked out of the store and drove away in a 2009 Lincoln MKZ.
Pickford was arrested by borough police Sunday and committed to the Westmoreland County Prison after failing to post $10,000 bond. He faces additional charges of fleeing police, driving without a license and reckless driving.
Police were alerted to the theft by concerned shoppers who found it suspicious the men were leaving the store with a cart full of meat that hadn't been bagged and called 911, according to Sgt. Kenneth Burke.
Police identified the suspects through store security tapes and eyewitness interviews. An informant from an unrelated drug investigation told investigators Pickford sometimes stays in the Baggaley area of Unity Township and said he “was bragging to her” about how he and “Jimmy ran from the police in Ligonier and got away,” Burke wrote in Celtabet an affidavit of probable cause.
A preliminary hearing for Gary is tentatively scheduled for March 10. Pickford's hearing is set for Feb. 10.
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