Crime & Public Safety.
The burglary and theft occurred at the Liberty Sunoco gas station on Harleysville Pike.
A 19-year-old Telford man has been charged with felony counts of burglary, theft by unlawful taking, and receiving stolen property for allegedly breaking into a gas station in Franconia Township and stealing $2,000 in vapes.
James Michael Callaghan Jr., of 100 block of Winding Way, also faces charges of loitering and prowling at night for his alleged role in the Sept. 29 incident at Sunoco/Liberty Gas at 303 Harleysville Pike, according to charging documents.
Police allege that during the burglary, Callaghan took off his mask inside the business and was clearly captured on surveillance video.
At 7:05 a.m. Sept. 29, police responded to a report for an overnight burglary at the Sunoco, and upon arrival, police saw the front window to the business smashed in, per the complaint.
An employee arrived to work at 6:45 a.m., and found the front door window smashed in, and his boss told him to call police, per the affidavit.
Officers cleared the property to make sure no one was inside the shop. A business manager arrived on location with surveillance video of the incident, police said.
The video showed a man in mask and black T-shirt and black hoodie break the window and enter through the front door at 1:18 a.m., per the complaint. When the burglar was behind the counter taking numerous items off the shelves, he took off his mask, police said.
Police immediately identified the suspect as Callaghan, per the complaint, as officers had multiple interactions with him this year and recognized his face and voice from the video.
In the video, Callaghan, police allege, continued taking numerous items off the glass shelves and from a shelf behind the register. He left at 1:20 a.m., eastbound on Telford Pike, police said.
Police said Callaghan stole mostly vapes with a THC concentration, all valued at a loss of more than $2,000.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
