Homeless man arrested in drug, theft cases

WEST CHESTER » A homeless man from Philadelphia who police said stole a tip jar from a local ice cream parlor is now facing drug charges, according to court records.

A West Chester police officer caught Christian Glenn allegedly rolling a “blunt” marijuana cigarette while sitting with a juvenile in the laundry room of an apartment complex. He was charged with drug possession and criminal trespass.

But when Officer Jeffrey Gallo asked Glenn for his name, he falsely identified himself as Chris

Lemerise, according to a criminal complaint. Asked again after the officer told Glenn that he was being investigated for criminal offenses, the defendant again gave his last name as Lemerise.

He was taken into custody around 1:10 p.m. Aug. 11, and held on 10 percent of $500 bail, which he could not post.

The day before, according to a second criminal complaint, Glenn allegedly grabbed a tip jar from a store counter and fled with the cash.

Borough Detective Robert Kuehn, who investigated the theft said that an employee at the West Chester Coffee and Ice Cream bar in the 50 block of East Gay Street called police around 10:10 p.m. Aug. 10 to report the theft.

The employee said she had been cleaning the store in preparation for closing, and had left the front door

open so she could take out the trash. As she was doing so, a man she did not know waked into the store and asked if they gave “free samples.” The employee told the man that the shop was closed.

As she did so, the man reached for the glass tip jar that was on the front counter and ran from the store. The employee estimated that there was about $35 in cash in the jar.

Kuehn was able to look at video surveillance footage from the pizza shop next door, and viewed three subjects walking in front of the store at the time of the theft. One of them, later identified as Glenn, was seen walking into the restaurant and running out a moment later with the tip jar.

Kuehn made photos of the video showing the men, and passed them out to borough patrol officers. On Aug. 14, he was able to identify Glenn after learning of his arrest by Gallo at the Apartments for Modern Living on South Matlack Street.

On Friday, Glenn pleaded guilty to lesser summary charges of disorderly conduct and was fined $25, which he was unable to pay because he is indigent, according to records at Magisterial District Judge Marian Thayer Vito’s court. He waived his preliminary hearing on the drug, trespassing, and false identification charges, however, and was returned to Chester County Prison to await trial in Common Pleas Court.

To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.