Thefts land Pottstown man in prison

NORRISTOWN >> A Pottstown man is headed to prison after he admitted to stealing numerous items, including tools and a bicycle, from several borough businesses and residences.

Phillip Winslow Goodman, 59, of the unit block of Beech Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 21-to-60-months in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of theft by unlawful taking and criminal trespass in connection with multiple incidents that occurred between June 25 and July 13, 2018.

The sentence was imposed by Judge William R. Carpenter.

The investigation began on June 25 when borough police responded to the Wawa in the 1500 block of East High Street after a victim reported his bicycle and a case of window washer fluid was stolen from an enclosed area at the rear of the building. Police obtained video surveillance footage that depicted a male taking the items about 7:39 p.m., according to the arrest affidavit.

The same day, police responded to a Hill School maintenance garage at Chestnut and Grant streets where officials reported

multiple tools, valued at more than $1,000, were stolen from a work truck. Upon reviewing video surveillance footage, police determined the items were stolen by the same male linked to the theft at the Wawa, according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Detective Brooke Fisher.

Other thefts of tools were reported from a shed of a residence located along the unit block of North Franklin Street and from a work truck parked in Rowan Alley, west of Grant Street, between July 5 and July 13, according to the arrest affidavit.

Detectives eventually linked Goodman to the thefts and found that he had sold multiple items, including the stolen bicycle and various tools, at a local pawn shop, according to the criminal complaint.

Other charges of burglary and receiving stolen property were dismissed against Goodman in exchange for his guilty plea to the felony theft-related charges.