SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. - A Schuylkill County man is under arrest and facing charges after authorities say he stole a police vehicle and drove it almost 100 miles before finally being taken into custody.
49-year-old Richard Weiss of Schuylkill Haven is charged with theft, receiving stolen property and related offenses.
According to court documents, Weiss came to the Schuylkill Haven Borough Police Department (SHPD) at 2:18 a.m. Monday, wearing just socks, to turn himself in on a warrant.
The officer on duty advised Weiss he did not have any active warrants for his arrest after calling Schuylkill County Dispatch to check. Weiss was then told by police to walk home.
At around 3:40 a.m., dispatch called the police station to ask if all department vehicles were currently in the parking lot. It was at that time the officer on duty noticed one was missing.
Court documents state the officer parked the vehicle in the lot at 1:39 a.m. and left the engine idling, leaving a spare key in the ignition after locking the door with his primary key.
After he was instructed to leave the station, police say Weiss returned around 2:50 a.m. and opened the driver's side door of the officer's vehicle, got in and drove off. Court documents did not specify how the suspect was able to open the vehicle's door after it was allegedly locked by the officer.
Steve McShaw, the property owner to Weiss's current home, says he had been looking for Weiss since the night before.
"I really couldn't believe it. He's mental, yes maybe that, but I couldn't see him taking an officer's car."
Once it was confirmed missing, an alert for the stolen police vehicle was issued just before 4 a.m.
Investigators say after leaving the station, Weiss drove to a Wawa located in the 900 block of W. Leesport Road in Bern Township, Berks County and went behind the counter, taking cigarettes and multiple candy items.
When confronted by the store's manager, Weiss allegedly told them he was an off-duty police officer and pointed to SHPD vehicle parked outside. Suspicious of his claims and actions, Wawa employees then contacted police.
The vehicle's registration was picked on a VIPR system camera at the intersection of routes 12 and 73 in Ruscombmanor Township, Berks County just before 4 a.m., but investigators were unable to tell which direction it was headed.
SHPD were contacted around 6 a.m. with a call advising them Weiss and the vehicle were in the custody of Amtrak Wilmington Police Department in the state of Delaware.
Authorities say a police shotgun inside the stolen vehicle did not appear to have been tampered with.
Weiss is still in custody in Delaware according to online records. There is no word at this time when he will be brought back to Pennsylvania to face charges.
