Mill Hall man jailed after allegedly burglarizing Bellefonte business

A Bellefonte burglary ended with a downtown State College arrest Monday.

It all started at 10:48 a.m. Friday when Bellefonte police were called to Houser Vending on Cherry Street.

Owner John Houser told police that his basement safe had been broken into overnight, with $47,000 missing, according ot the affidavit of probable cause.

Detective Robert Ruggerio said in court documents that he viewed surveillance video and saw a white male suspect entering the building at 9:06 p.m. The door the suspect used is secured with a passcode. He was observed making repeated trips to the basement, and “ducking and crawling” to avoid the surveillance system, both of which Ruggerio said led to a belief the man had prior knowledge of the building.

The investigation took police to a recent hire by Houser who had not shown up for several days. The employee was a parolee from an Indiana state penitentiary, according to the affidavit.

Tracking down that employee, Ruggerio said he admitted to a heroin addiction that resulted in money problems.

Enter Jacob Purnell Snook, 27, of Mill Hall. Police found text messages between the two men that showed the employee owed Snook money, and Snook wanted to “go steal some (expletive) bro.”

Additional surveillance images obtained Saturday showed both men entering the building on Jan. 16.

Ferguson Township police contacted their Bellefonte counterparts Saturday with news that an informant had come forward confirming Snook’s involvement.

Snook was found around noon Monday at Imperial Motor Inn where he rented four rooms. Court documents say he had purchased 10 bricks of heroin and, along with three family members, was running a drug shop with plenty of foot traffic.

Police said Snook and others were found with $14,959 in cash, plus heroin.

Snook was identified as the suspect in the surveillance video based on the print of his shoes.

Snook is charged with burglary, receiving stolen property, theft by unlawful taking, conspiracy to commit burglary, delivery of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance, all felonies, misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and tampering with evidence and summary criminal mischief.

He was incarcerated at Centre County Correctional Facility in lieu of $150,000 bail after being arraigned by District Judge Kelley Gillette-Walker. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 3.

This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 8:09 PM with the headline "Mill Hall man jailed after allegedly burglarizing Bellefonte business."