Tip, receipts, phone records lead to arrest of Ohio men in Unity equipment theft

State troopers used hotel receipts, cell phone records and a tip from police in Ohio during a 15-month investigation to arrest two demolition workers from Youngstown, Ohio, on Wednesday in connection with the theft of a piece of heavy equipment from a dump site in Unity.

Nicholas S. Kaczmark, 44, and Brian J. Rose, 38, were arraigned on charges of criminal conspiracy, theft and receiving stolen property in connection with the Jan. 9 theft of a $54,000 Takeuchi Trackloader from a dump at Frye Farm and East High Acres roads.

Trooper Jason Morgan of the state police regional motor vehicle theft task force reported in court documents the men were employed with Lycoming Supply Co. in Williamsport and travelled to the area to demolish a water tower near Avonmore. The men were staying at the Inn at Mt. View in Unity.

“The hotel is (seven-tenths) of a mile and less than two minutes driving distance from the theft site,” Morgan reported.

Kaczmark and Rose would pass the compact front-end loader owned by Independent Enterprises of Bridgeville in Allegheny County that was parked at the dump every day on their way to and from work near Avonmore from Dec. 18 through January 17, Morgan said.

Morgan said the dump was being used to dispose of debris from the nearby Live! Casino project at Westmoreland Mall in Hempfield. Troopers said it appeared that the hinges on the gate at the site were removed to allow the equipment to be hauled away.

Morgan said no leads initially surfaced after the theft was reported by company officials Jan. 9 and the case was logged on a national crime database. An insurance claim was paid for just under $52,000 on Feb. 28, 2020, according to court documents.

On Aug. 24, 2020, a Warren, Ohio, firm reported a similar track loader and trailer were stolen from a parking area. A security camera caught the registration plate of a pickup truck that was used to haul away the machinery the night before, Morgan said.

Lordstown, Ohio, police eventually traced the pickup truck to Rose’s wife, who is not charged in the Westmoreland theft. When investigators went to Rose’s residence, they located the loader stolen from Unity, according to court documents.

The national database enabled Lordstown police to contact Pennsylvania State Police.

Morgan said Rose’s wife directed investigators to a construction site in Clearfield, where Rose was working with Kaczmark. Both denied any wrongdoing.

Brian Rose blamed the theft on a tow truck operator named “RJ” who operates a salvage yard on “the east side of Youngstown” who delivered it and asked him to make repairs, Morgan reported.

In late August, Morgan reported that he obtained pay statements from Lycoming Supply that both men had stayed at the Inn at Mt. View near the theft site during the period the loader was stolen.

Morgan reported that he obtained warrants for Rose’s two cell phones, which contained photographs of Rose holding his young son operating the stolen machinery in his yard in early 2020. Other information obtained from the phone by the Allegheny County Police Computer Crime lab connected Rose to the stolen equipment in Warren, Morgan reported.

In an October interview with investigators from Ohio, Morgan said, when presented with evidence collected from telephone records and text messages plus hotel receipts, Rose admitted Kaczmark and he committed the Unity theft.

He said the pair rented a U-haul trailer nearby and hauled the machinery back to Rose’s yard.

“There was no intent to sell the Takeuchi,” Morgan wrote in court documents.

Both men turned themselves in for arraignment Wednesday before Unity District Judge Michael Mahady, who released them on recognizance bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled May 3.

Officials at Lycoming Supply did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Neither Kaczmark or Rose could be reached for comment. Neither had an attorney listed in court dockets.