Man headed for trial in alleged home invasion

Jeffrey Sutch, 35, appeared in district court and waived his preliminary hearing in the case

One of two brothers accused in an alleged Towamencin home invasion in February in which the siblings reportedly assaulted and terrorized a man while mistakenly believing their girlfriends were inside the residence, according to police, is headed for trial after waiving his preliminary hearing.

Jeffrey Sutch, 35, of Whitpain, appeared in police custody in Lansdale district court and opted to waive the hearing.

Prosecutors withdrew one count each of felony burglary and misdemeanor terroristic threats as part of the waiver agreement, while seven other counts — including felony counts of criminal trespassing and conspiracy, misdemeanor counts of simple assault and criminal mischief, and related offenses — were waived for trial in Montgomery County court, records indicate.

Sutch’s bail was lowered from $99,000 cash to 10 percent of $99,000 cash; jail records showed Monday that Sutch is still behind bars at Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

Towamencin police have said in an affidavit of probable cause that in the early morning hours of Feb. 18, cops were summoned to a residence on the 800 block of Continental Drive for a reported burglary.

Arriving officers discovered that the front door of the home appeared to have been kicked open, with glass all over the ground.

The resident told police that he had been sleeping when he was awoken by the sounds of people inside his house, according to the affidavit. When he went to the top of the stairs to investigate, two men — one of whom he recognized as 27-year-old George BottumSutch, of Plymouth Meeting — starting yelling at him as they rushed up the stairs, the affidavit states.

The men pushed the victim back into his room, at which point he shut the door while the two intruders tried to force the door open, according to court documents. The resident said the two men then threatened to shoot him and burn the house down, the affidavit indicates. Concerned for his young son, who was in a nearby bedroom, the victim pushed his way out of the bedroom, knocking Bottum-Sutch and the other man back into the hallway, and the two men retreated down the stairs, swatting framed photos off the walls on their way out of the house.

The victim suffered a cut to his neck and a torn shirt during the assault, and told cops that the man who accompanied Bottum-Sutch may have been his brother, Jeffrey Sutch, according to the affidavit.

Later that morning, police contacted BottumSutch and he voluntarily came to police headquarters.

During questioning, according to court documents, Bottum-Sutch said that the man with him was indeed his brother, and that Jeffrey Sutch believed his girlfriend was inside the victim’s home, and claimed to have seen a Ford Explorer that she was driving near the victim’s residence.

“The two brothers went to the residence to search for their girlfriends (who) they believed were in the company of the victim,” the affidavit states.

Bottum-Sutch said that it was his brother, Jeffrey Sutch, who kicked in the door, tried to force his way into the bedroom, and knocked the photos off the walls. He also admitted that neither of the women they were looking for were inside the home, according to court documents.

Additionally, BottumSutch told police, Jeffrey Sutch called a friend of his to come to the victim’s residence and tow away a Ford Explorer he believed belonged to his girlfriend to Bottum-Sutch’s house, but that when the vehicle arrived at his home a few hours after the incident, he realized the vehicle did not belong to the woman and he instructed his brother and the tow-truck operator to immediately return the Ford to where they found it, according to the affidavit.

Bottum-Sutch, who is free after posting $10,000 cash bail last month, is due in Lansdale district court on March 27 for his preliminary hearing in the case. He faces felony counts of burglary, criminal trespassing and conspiracy, misdemeanor counts of simple assault, terroristic threats and criminal mischief, and related summary offenses.