Jan. 01--A pair of bike-riding bandits looted dozens of vehicles for valuables early Monday in Courtdale, Larksville, Plymouth and Swoyersville before being caught by an alert police officer who chased after them, police said.
Footprints in the snow eventually led police to where the thieves tried to hide -- in the bed of an old coal delivery truck along Washington Avenue in Plymouth.
Police said Josh Kolinoski, 19, of Plymouth and a 16-year-old boy entered at least 50 vehicles in the four boroughs before police caught them.
Larksville police Officer Josh Evans said he spotted the duo peddling their bikes down East State Street in Larksville, wearing ski masks and dark clothes around 6 a.m. Evans said he turned his cruiser around and gave chase. He said he followed the pair to Vine Street in Plymouth, near the Larksville border, where they dumped their bicycles and darted through residential yards to escape, he said.
The teens fled through Ann Marie Clark's yard in Plymouth and tried to run over her frozen in-ground pool that was covered with snow. They fell through the ice at several points, but eventually made it across, police said.
Clark was awake, but didn't know her yard was being used as an escape path until she spotted the flashing lights of a police car outside her home.
"They ran right across the pool. I guess they didn't know it was a pool," said Clark, 66.
The teens stepped in one of her flower pots and lunged over her red picket fence -- one leaving behind his ski mask.
Evans tracked the pair's footprints in the snow down the street to a coal truck, where the suspects were hiding. They were found in the bed of the truck, and taken into custody.
"We followed the footprints right to them. They were hiding with a bag with the evidence," said Evans, who was assisted by Plymouth and Edwardsville police.
Police said they were able to recover most of the stolen goods -- including the bicycles, which they say were also stolen. The vehicles the thieves targeted all were left unlocked, police said.
"I didn't know what I had originally -- two guys riding their bikes with ski masks that early in the morning. It was odd," Evans said.
Charges are pending in the case until police determine the total number of victims and damages, police said.
Kolinoski was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility because he was wanted on a warrant by Luzerne County Court for failure to appear on previous theft charges, police said. The juvenile was interviewed and released to his parents.
Police are asking anyone who was victimized to contact their local police department.
570-821-2055, @cvbobkal
Copyright 2013 - The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
