Altoona man facing charges following home invasion in State College, police say
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- Police say an Altoona man broke into a State College home in the early morning of Feb. 6.
- Residents in the home allegedly fought back against the man, according to the report.
- The alleged burglar faces several felony and misdemeanor charges.
An Altoona man is facing charges after police say he broke into a State College home in the middle of the night last week and was fought off by the homeowner and his son.
Braxdyn Levi Landrum, 26, is accused of breaking into a home along the 1000 block of Crabapple Drive early Friday morning and assaulting two of its occupants. He faces several charges, including felony counts of burglary, attempted robbery and criminal trespassing.
In an affidavit of probable cause, State College borough police said they responded to the home shortly after 2 a.m. Friday when the homeowner’s son reported a burglary. He said a masked man in dark clothing had entered the home by shattering its rear sliding glass door.
The homeowner investigated the noise and confronted the burglar before the suspect began fighting him, the affidavit says. The homeowner and his son, who was visiting his parents’ house at the time, fought back and pushed the alleged burglar back through the glass door.
Police found a pair of black ski goggles that do not belong in the home on the living room floor, according to the affidavit. Landrum told the men he had a gun, but neither saw a firearm during the incident, police said.
Officers who responded to the home said the living room “was in disarray” with glass shards strewn across the floor. A small watch winder box containing watches had been moved, the homeowner told police, with the glass lid broken and two watches on the floor.
The fight in the living room left the homeowner with cuts to his shins, knees and feet, including a 2-inch laceration to the back of his head, police wrote. His son sustained a swollen abrasion on his forehead and defensive injuries to both hands, including swelling and cuts on his knuckles.
Police identified fresh boot prints in the snow along the edge of the driveway of the adjacent home that matched tracks leading from the burglarized home, according to the affidavit. Officers at the scene provided other local officers with a physical description of the suspect and requested they “be on the lookout.”
At roughly 2:34 a.m., a Patton Township police officer observed a suspicious vehicle parked behind the Original Waffle Shop at 1610 W. College Ave., roughly three-fourths of a mile away from the Crabapple Drive home. Officers approached the white BMW 328i, saw the driver’s door was ajar and did not believe anyone was in or around the vehicle until they saw a white male hunched over in the back of the car.
The man, who was wearing dark pants and a dark shirt, had been vomiting and was described as huffing and puffing while out of breath, the affidavit reads. His speech was incoherent when the officers asked why he was parked in the lot.
The officers called for an ambulance and identified the man as Landrum. He had fresh cuts to his hand and small cuts along the bridge of his nose, his forehead and atop his bald head. Police said the injuries were consistent with a recent physical altercation and being forcefully pushed through a broken glass door.
State College police said Landrum’s boots matched the prints found outside the Crabapple Drive home. According to the affidavit, the toes of Landrum’s boots were freshly scuffed and cut in a manner consistent with kicking a glass door.
Officers found a shard of glass on the BMW’s driver’s seat and a dark knit stocking hat and dark gloves that matched the homeowner’s description. Police also found a gold watch in the driver’s door storage compartment, according to the report.
Landrum faces felony counts of attempted robbery, burglary and criminal trespassing. He also faces several misdemeanor charges, including two counts of simple assault, criminal mischief and loitering and prowling at night.
District Judge Casey McClain set bail Friday at $25,000, which Landrum could not post. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11.
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