Man jailed for rash of vehicle break-ins

NORRISTOWN >> A Perkiomen man who told authorities “he doesn’t think straight when he needs drugs,” is headed to state prison for breaking into vehicles to steal items to support his drug habit.

Shaun Christopher Voigt, 35, of the first block of Pennypacker Lane, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to one to three years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of theft by unlawful taking in connection with multiple vehicle break-ins that occurred between June 2015 and May 2016 in Lower and Upper Salford townships and Lansdale borough.

Judge Joseph P. Walsh imposed the sentence as part of a plea agreement. Voigt will receive

credit for the time he’s been in jail since his arrest last May.

The judge also ordered Voigt to pay more than $1,100 in restitution to the victims. Voigt will share that restitution with two alleged accomplices who assisted Voigt several times during his rash of thefts.

Many of the vehicles targeted by Voigt had been left unlocked by their owners, court papers indicate. The items stolen from the vehicles included firearms, electronic devices, loose

change and purses and wallets containing credit cards and cash.

When detectives eventually developed Voigt as a suspect in the rash of break-ins he confessed.

“He acknowledged entering vehicles and removing the items from the vehicles was illegal. He also stated he doesn’t think straight when he needs drugs and was willing to do whatever was necessary to get money to buy drugs,” Lower Salford Police Officer Jeremy Fischer wrote in court documents.

One of the earliest break-ins attributed to Voigt occurred on June 6, 2015, when a Huckleberry Lane resident reported to

Lower Salford police that someone entered his unlocked pickup truck and stole his wallet, a Walther P88 9mm semiautomatic handgun, two magazines for the gun and a box of ammunition, according to a criminal complaint.

After police developed Voigt as a suspect he confessed to the theft of the firearm from the Huckleberry Lane resident’s vehicle. Voigt told police that a few days after stealing the firearm he solicited the help of a friend in order to sell the firearm to an unknown individual in Philadelphia for drugs, according to court documents. Voigt allegedly received a bundle of heroin and $240

for the firearm.

Eventually, police linked Voigt to additional vehicle break-ins, about 25, in May 2016 in Lower Salford, Upper Salford and Lansdale, according to an arrest affidavit.

The investigation revealed Voigt also sold some of the stolen items to area pawn shops and some items were recovered. Voigt admitted to using the money he obtained through selling the stolen property to buy drugs, according to the criminal complaint.

When police searched Voigt’s vehicle they found some stolen items, including a Ruger .380-caliber pistol and GPS units, according to court papers.