Courts and state news (Credit: deep Bhullar / Pexels)
The Franconia Township man stole $2,000 in vapes from the Sunoco/Liberty Gas on Harleysville Pike in September 2024
A Franconia Township man was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty last month in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court to misdemeanor counts of defiant trespassing and theft by unlawful taking for breaking into a gas station and stealing $2,000 in vapes in September 2024.
Felony charges of burglary and receiving stolen property were dismissed against James Michael Callaghan Jr., 20, of the 100 block of Winding Way, according to court records. As part of the sentence set by Judge Wendy Rothstein, Callaghan Jr. is banned from the Sunoco/Liberty Gas at 303 Harleysville Pike and will serve his probation concurrent with another conviction, per court records.
Police said that during the Sept. 29, 2024 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 at 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 at the location with a surveillance video of the incident, police said.
The video showed Callaghan Jr. in a 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 Callaghan Jr. 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 continued taking numerous items off the glass shelves and from a shelf behind the register, police said. He left at 1:20 a.m., eastbound on Telford Pike.
Police said Callaghan stole mostly vapes with a THC concentration, all valued at a loss of more than $2,000.
He was initially represented by public defender Adam Bender, then retained attorney Paul Mallis.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
