Authorities apprehend accused Lower Providence serial burglar
NORRISTOWN >> A Lower Providence man wanted for allegedly burglarizing multiple residences throughout Montgomery County was apprehended this week by U.S. Marshals in Harrisburg, according to authorities.
Junine Marion Garnett, 21, of the 100 block of Devon Drive, was arraigned on Wednesday before District Court Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar on multiple counts of burglary, attempted burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and loitering and prowling at night in connection with alleged incidents that occurred between August and September 2020.
Rebar set bail at $500,000 cash, which Garnett was unable to post and he was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility to await a June 1 preliminary hearing on the charges before Rebar.
Garnett was located and arrested by U.S. Marshals on Tuesday at a Market Street residence in Harrisburg, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Lower Providence Township Police Chief Michael Jackson who announced Garnett’s arrest on Thursday.
With the charges, authorities alleged Garnett participated in eight burglaries and eight attempted burglaries, many times while occupants of the residences were asleep in their homes, between Aug. 17 and Sept. 24, 2020.
The alleged incidents occurred in Collegeville and Trappe boroughs and East Norriton, Lower Providence and West Norriton townships. “These burglaries were opportunistic. The defendant searched for unlocked doors and windows through which to gain entry to homes—he did not break any windows or pry open doors,” Steele alleged. “I cannot stress enough that even though you think you live in a ‘safe neighborhood,’ please lock your doors and windows at night. It’s an easy precaution to take.”
The investigation, according to a criminal complaint, began on Sept. 12, 2020, when Lower Providence police responded to Lloyd Lane for reports of four residential burglaries. Homeowners reported they were burglarized overnight and they discovered the break-ins in the morning.
During the investigation, detectives learned about similar incidents occurring in neighboring jurisdictions as early as Aug. 17, according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Providence
Detective Michael Nastasi. The investigation found that there was a common plan or scheme to these burglaries and attempted burglaries.
The suspect gained entry to homes through unlocked windows and doors and could be observed on video surveillance footage being deterred from gaining entry into residences where a door or window was locked, according to the arrest affidavit.
Once inside the residences, Garnett allegedly ransacked various rooms in the homes and stole cash, jewelry, valuable documents and purses. The attempted burglaries were in the same areas as other homes that were burglarized on the same night. In those incidents, detectives obtained homeowner video surveillance that showed the defendant trying to find unsecured doors or windows to gain entry to a home, according to court papers.
During one overnight burglary on Sept. 24, a resident of a home along 8th Avenue in Collegeville reported a male wearing a black sweatshirt entered her bedroom.
“The male was not known to the caller, was not welcome in the home, and when confronted, the male subject fled the residence on foot,” Nastasi alleged in the arrest affidavit. “It is believed that the confronted burglar was startled, as he quickly fled the 8th Avenue residence.
“This supports the theory that the burglar caught in the act fled in such an unplanned manner that he left his getaway vehicle behind,” Nastasi alleged. “Across the street from the scene of the burglary, responding officers located a black Mercury Milan.”
The vehicle was subsequently traced to being used by Garnett, according to court documents.
Detectives subsequently obtained warrants to search various residences and vehicles associated with Garnett and recovered clothing that matched the description of clothing worn by the burglary suspect, according to court documents.
“The commonwealth has linked Junine Garnett to the burglaries and attempted burglaries through clothing, his physical demeanor, video surveillance, call detail records, his getaway car, his confessions to his girlfriend, the modus operandi of the crimes and the fact that this series of burglaries in the area ceased after the search warrants were executed,” Nastasi alleged in arrest documents.
The multi-jurisdictional investigation was led by Lower Providence Township police and involved the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, Pennsylvania State Police and police from Collegeville, East Norriton, Norristown and West Norriton.
Assistant District Attorney Tanner Beck is prosecuting the case.