Police investigating possible connection between string of burglaries at Lawrence County stores

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Pa. — Following a sting of burglaries at Lawrence County stores, authorities are working to learn whether the incidents are connected.

Police said that in two of the four break-ins, the burglar was wearing a Halloween mask. As for the latest incident Monday night at a Sunoco gas station in Neshannock Township, the men, who officers were able to arrest, were wearing plastic bags over their heads, according to authorities.

Nirgu Langhanoja, the owner of the Sunoco, shared surveillance video of Monday’s burglary.

“It's (a) first. We were scared,” Langhanoja said.

Authorities said Patrick Hicks sat in a getaway car while Shawn Currie used a rock to break a window and steal cigarettes from the gas station.

State police told Channel 11 News that they‘re looking at Hicks and Currie in connection to previous burglaries.

Police said last Thursday morning that Geno’s Grocery and Convenience Store in New Castle was broken into by a man in a Halloween mask who used a rock to gain access to the store. The following morning, two men, one of whom was wearing a Halloween mask, broke the glass at the Tic Toc store in Mt. Jackson, police said.

Authorities said that by using the similarities between the crimes, they’re trying to connect the dots and link Currie and Hicks to each break-in.

According to the criminal complaint in the Sunoco case, neither of the men would speak to officers after they were arrested.

Cox Media Group