Five young Bradford men are being charged with more than 70 counts each of criminal mischief for an overnight mailbox-smashing spree last September that caused more than $4,000 in damage in four area municipalities.
Eric Brandon Mackey, 19, of 834 Bolivar Drive; Dylan M. Defilippo, 19, of 38 Homestead Ave.; Zachary McAndrew Bartlebaugh, 18, of 93 Gates Hollow; Brandon Stoltz, 19, of 160 Totten Hollow; and Dakota James Sera, 20, of 590 S. Kendall Ave., are each charged with the following: 79 counts of conspiracy to commit criminal mischief, second-degree misdemeanors; three counts of criminal mischief, second-degree misdemeanors; one count of disorderly conduct, a third-degree misdemeanor; and one count of scattering rubbish, a summary offense.
Court records said between 11:30 p.m. Sept. 21 to 7 a.m. Sept. 22, the five men took part in a “crime spree” encompassing areas of Eldred Township, Otto Township, Foster Township and Bradford Township.
The first call to Bradford Township Police was made on Sept. 22 on Crookerhouse Lane, where a mailbox had been damaged and garbage spread around a private property. Chief Robb Shipman was responding when he was notified of similar calls in the same vicinity, as well as a report that an area policeman’s garage door had been spraypainted with obscenities and “#3,” court records read.
Police were able to form a suspect list, including all of the five defendants, and spoke to them. All five admitted to traveling through the county damaging an unknown number of mailboxes “by striking them with a baseball bat,” court records read.
The defendants admitted to using spray paint to deface two signs in Otto Township, and to purchasing spray paint specifically for the purpose of damaging an officer’s residence, the records read. They also admitting to taking bags of garbage from homes and throwing them out on Crookerhouse Lane on the road and on private property.
The police agencies in the impacted areas met with the McKean County District Attorney’s office, and decided to charge the five in Bradford Township as the events were “part of a crime spree and one continuous event,” the records read.
The cases against all five have been filed before Magisterial District Judge Rich Luther, yet none of the men had been arraigned as of Thursday.
Arraignments for Mackey, Defilippo and Stoltz are scheduled for Feb. 9, while Bartlebaugh and Sera are scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 12.
None of the men had attorneys listed on online court dockets Thursday.
