A Philadelphia man has been arrested and charged with breaking into multiple Dunkin’ locations in Berks County with another man in 2022.
Louis Myers, 29, was arraigned Thursday in front of District Judge Brian Strand on four counts of burglary; one count of attempted burglary; five counts of criminal mischief; five counts of possessing an instrument of crime; and five counts of criminal trespass.
He was placed in Berks County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Myers is accused of breaking into four Dunkin stores in November 2022 along with Shane Randall, 33, of Philadelphia.
According to court documents:
Myers and Randall are accused of breaking into the stores between about 1:40 and 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 27, 2022.
The break-ins occurred at:
• Dunkin’, Love and Morgantown roads, Cumru Township, at 1:39 a.m.
• Dunkin’, 800 Lancaster Ave., Reading, at 2:04 a.m.
• Dunkin’, 1350 Carbon St., Reading, at 2:21 a.m.
• Top Star Express, 2599 Bernville Road, Bern Township, at 2:30 a.m.
Investigators said the pair used hammers to break drive-thru windows or front windows of the stores to gain access.
They stole 382 packs of Newport and Marlboro cigarettes with a retail value of nearly $3,500 from the Top Star store.
At each Dunkin’ location, they went to the office and tried to steal the safe, which was bolted to something.
They were successful in removing the safe from the Carbon Street location after unbolting it from a filing cabinet. The safe contained nearly $1,500.
The burglars fled the Cumru location empty-handed after they were unable to open the office door.
At about 2:45 a.m., the pair attempted to break into a fifth store, but were thwarted by police.
Wyomissing patrol officers were conducting surveillance on the Dunkin’ store at State Hill Road and Cheltenham Drive when a man wearing latex gloves and carrying a hammer walked up to the drive-thru window.
He struck the window several times before running toward the front of the building. The officers swarmed the lot in their marked vehicles and saw the suspect get into a white Toyota RAV4 that sped off.
Officers chased, but the vehicle pursuit was terminated after police lost sight of the vehicle in Lancaster County.
Police were able to identify one of the suspects through DNA evidence.
One of the burglars tore the latex gloves he was wearing while pulling on shattered glass at the Curmu location and police were able to obtain a DNA sample from the glove piece left behind.
That sample was later matched to a sample from the cellphone of a victim of a carjacking in Newark, Del., who told police the robber had picked it up The vehicle stolen in that crime matched the one used in the Berks break-ins.
About a week after the Berks burglaries, the stolen vehicle was involved in a chase with Pennsylvania and Delaware state police. The driver escaped, but the vehicle was recovered.
Inside the vehicle, police found cartons of Newport and Marlboro cigarettes, three hammers, a box of latex gloves and other items connected to the Berks crimes.
In February 2023, Randall turned himself in to police in Newark. He was charged in Berks in March.
Randall remains free pending further court action.
Court documents do not detail how Myers was identified as Randall’s accomplice or the details of his arrest.