Police caught a Dunmore woman and a Scranton man attempting to break into a Dunmore residence just after noon Tuesday, according to a criminal complaint.
Dunmore police were called to 1105 Wheeler Ave. for the report of an attempted break-in. When they arrived, they found Christopher Hill, 50, and Pamela Rillstone, 37, attempting to drill out the front door lock, officers said.
When an officer approached Rillstone, she said, “Oh … here comes the cops.”
Officers took the pair into custody and transported them to headquarters.
The homeowner told officers he did not know either of the suspects and hadn’t given them permission to enter his residence.
Rillstone, of Prescott Avenue, was in possession of alprazolam and carisoprodol tablets contained in a prescription bottle with someone else’s name on it at the time of her arrest. Both drugs require a prescription, police said.
Hill, of Lafayette Street, allegedly admitted to officers the two had been attempting to drill out the door lock in order to steal things from the residence.
He said he was acting at the direction of Rillstone, who said the property belonged to a former cousin and she wanted to retrieve her belongings from the residence.
Rillstone admitted she knew the lock was being drilled to remove items from the residence, police said.
Officers noted that earlier that day, both suspects were spotted taking items from a Farber Court residence, just two blocks away.
The victim in that case, they said, declined pursuing criminal charges.
The pair face felony charges of burglary and criminal trespass, in addition to misdemeanor charges of damaging property and possessing instruments of a crime. They remain in Lackawanna County Prison, each in lieu of $20,000 bail. Both have preliminary hearings scheduled for Aug. 11 before District Judge Christopher J. Szewczyk.