Upper Moreland Police found a prybar and hammer at a scene, much like these, when a man reported a person on the roof in Willow Grove. (Credit: Ēriks Irmejs / Unsplash.com)
Police say they found a prybar and hammer at the scene.
It isn’t every day you see a person on a roof in the middle of the night, and it is no wonder such a startling discovery would have you calling the police. But that is just what one Upper Moreland Township man was forced to do so last week.
On Nov. 6 around 4:26 a.m., the Upper Moreland Township Police were called to the 1100 block of Easton Road in Willow Grove for the report of a male subject walking on the roof of a building there, said the police reports.
A man, later identified as Jeremy Porter, 49, of the 1100 block of Easton Road, in Willow Grove, was located by police on the roof of a bus, which was parked immediately adjacent to a second story roof of a nearby residence. Police said Porter was wearing gloves at the time.
According to the police department’s criminal complaint, the resident of the home said he was the one who’d called 911, and her provided police with a summary of what he said happened. He told police that when he returned from his night shift of work, when he noticed a hammer and a pry bar that were not previously there at his exterior door, which was now damaged, said the complaint.
Police said that the caller entered his property and went to his apartment on the second floor of the building. Once inside he found Porter, who he knows, but did have permission to be inside his apartment, said the complaint.
The caller said he exited his apartment, and immediately called the police, according to the complaint, when he saw Porter on the roof. Porter, according to the listed address on the police reports, also lives in the same building.
Police continued to investigate the matter, and according to their written complaint, the following details were observed at the scene:
Porter is charged with burglary of an overnight accommodation with no person present, a felony charge of criminal trespassing, as well as misdemeanor charges of possession of an instrument of a crime with intent, theft of mail via unlawful taking, and criminal mischief for tampering with property.
Porter, who has had additional charges per a court system search, remains in county jail unable to post $5,000 monetary bail. He is due in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 22 at 1:15 p.m. before Magisterial District Judge Thomas P. Murt.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
