A Buffalo, N.Y., man was arraigned and released on bail Wednesday on allegations that he burglarized a business that was storing a car containing evidence against him.
Clyde Hoskins, 31, of Genesee Street, was charged in two cases.
On March 16, at 4:57 p.m., a Bradford City Police officer was contacted by state parole agents who were following a vehicle that was emitting an odor of burnt marijuana. The agents said the two occupants of the vehicle appeared nervous of their agency vehicle, the criminal complaint stated.
An officer followed the vehicle to the Northwest Bank on West Washington Street, which the officer knew was permanently closed. The car pulled up to the drive thru as if the occupants were conducting business with the bank. The officer saw Hoskins, the driver, act as though he was completing a cash withdrawal from the ATM, according to the complaint.
The officer stopped the vehicle at the Country Fair, and called for a police K9 to do a “sniff” of the vehicle; the K9 gave a “positive indication.” The vehicle was searched, and police seized drug paraphernalia, a large sum of money, marijuana and packaging, the complaint stated.
On July 3, police received a burglary complaint from the owner of Tuna Valley Towing on East Main Street. The owner said he had surveillance video showing a Black male breaking out a glass window pane on a secured front entry door, and crawling through to enter the business at about 3:50 a.m., the criminal complaint stated.
The male, later identified as Hoskins, broke into a vehicle held there by the city police for evidence in a narcotics case. Hoskins tampered with and removed items from the inside of the vehicle, the complaint stated. Hoskins then found a surveillance camera inside the office of the business, and removed it as well.
On July 6, Hoskins went to the police station and spoke to Chief Mike Ward, admitting to breaking into the towing company, tampering with evidence in the vehicle and stealing the surveillance camera, stating he did it all in an attempt to “obtain money from the motor vehicle to make his way home to Buffalo, N.Y.,” the complaint alleged.
Hoskins was charged in one case with possession of a small amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving with a suspended license. In the second case, he was charged with burglary, a second-degree felony; criminal trespass, a third-degree felony; tampering with evidence, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, all second-degree misdemeanors; and criminal mischief — damaging property, a summary offense.
He was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Dom Cercone, bail was set at a total of $10,000 and Hoskins was released after posting a percentage of the total amount.
He is scheduled to appear in McKean County Central Court on Aug. 10.