Rebersburg man charged in 2015 Grange Fair theft

A Rebersburg man is facing felony theft charges after a pair of ice boxes reported stolen at the 2015 Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair were recovered at this year’s fair.

According to the criminal complaint filed by state police at Rockview, an employee of Genna Ice Inc., of Philipsburg, reported that on Aug. 31, 2015, two ice boxes had allegedly been taken, police said. The initial investigation related that the two boxes had been taken from the front of a fair stand.

Troopers responded to a call by the same employee on Aug. 24 during this year’s fair, police said, at the Bartlebaugh Amusements location. The employee showed troopers an ice box in the back of the Bartlebaugh truck that matched the serial number of one of the boxes allegedly taken one year prior.

A second ice box found against the Bartlebaugh main trailer matched the serial number of the second box, police said.

Troopers talked to Jason Bartlebaugh, 33, that same day. He allegedly told troopers that he swapped out his old ice boxes in 2015 at the fair for the two he was currently in possession of.

Bartlebaugh Amusements is based out of Madisonburg, according to its website.

Bartlebaugh was arraigned before District Judge Tom Jordan on Thursday and charged with three felony counts of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and receiving stolen property. He was released on $10,000 unsecured bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14.

This story was originally published September 1, 2016 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Rebersburg man charged in 2015 Grange Fair theft."