Lansdale Police. Photo by James Short.
The former Assistant Director of Engineering at Elm Terrace Gardens has been charged with seven felonies by Lansdale Police after being accused of stealing jewelry worth more than $3,000 from a resident and pawning it off for personal gain.
Bryon Charles Trout, 47, of Green Lane, is charged with three counts each of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, and a count of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, per court records.
Trout remains incarcerated at Montgomery County jail, as of Thursday, in lieu of $2,000 cash bail, set by Magisterial District Judge Dara Nasatir at a June 28 arraignment, per court records.
"Due to the seriousness of the current charges, Mr. Trout was terminated immediately," said Elm Terrace Gardens Director of Human Resources Deb Longacre in a statement to North Penn Now.
On May 20, an 84-year-old female resident of Elm Terrace Gardens, 660 N. Broad St., Lansdale, reported to authorities that a diamond ring and a set of diamond earrings, valued at a total of $3,000, were stolen from her room, police said. The last time she saw the rings was on May 15 in her dresser.
She told police that numerous staff members from various departments constantly visit her room, due to her husband needing a higher level of care, police said. A most recent visit involved the installation of a new shower enclosure by the community maintenance staff, police said. Police looked at the timeline of the victim’s residency, the timing of the report and the information given by the victim, and narrowed it down to Trout, police said.
Trout, authorities allege, would have a master key to all apartments, which is mechanical and has no computerized log for the lock, per the complaint.
Detectives visited pawn shops in the Quakertown area, including Quakertown Gold & Coin Buyers at 404 W. Broad St. There, an associate showed detectives shop records, including images of items sold to the shop, photo identifications and shop receipts, police said.
All in all, Trout had 39 transactions at the pawn shop, per the complaint, from Dec. 17, 2022 to May 15, 2024, and most of the transactions were of jewelry, silverware, silver serving pieces, and various coins.
Detectives visited the victim on June 11 regarding the stolen jewelry and showed her images of the pawned items on May 15, 2024, police said. She picked out her 18-carat two-tone metal ring from the images, appraised at $3,150, but its diamond was missing, per the complaint.
Then, the victim recognized two gold claddagh earrings that she had no idea were missing from her jewelry box, police said, which were valued at $600.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 8 at 2:15 p.m. before Magisterial District Judge Edward Levine.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
