Richard Charles Sturts.
Credit: Bensalem Township police
A Levittown man has been arrested in connection with a multi-county burglary spree after he allegedly used a pickup truck to ram through the front of a local auto service center, according to authorities.
Richard Charles Sturts, 56, was taken into custody Thursday following an investigation by the Bensalem Township Police Department.
The 56-year-old man faces charges of burglary, criminal trespass, and related offenses for an incident at Bob Nolan’s Auto Service on Route 13.
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The investigation began Dec. 2 when Bensalem Township officers responded to the business at 7:26 a.m. for a report of an overnight break-in.
Surveillance footage from 12:34 a.m. that morning showed a dark Chevrolet Silverado pulling into the parking lot and reversing into the front glass door multiple times until it shattered, police said.
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According to police, a suspect exited the truck, crawled through the bottom of the broken door and stole the cash register.
Investigators soon linked the Bensalem Township incident to a string of similar smash-and-grab burglaries across Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties.
In each case, a matching vehicle was used to ram the entrance of the targeted businesses, police said.
Detectives identified Sturts as the suspect and discovered he was already wanted on outstanding warrants for fleeing and eluding in Warrington Township and a violation of his conditions with the Bucks County Adult Probation and Parole Department.
Bensalem Township detectives entered the Silverado’s license plate into an automated reader system.
On Thursday, the system alerted officers that the vehicle was moving through the township, police said.
Patrol units located the unoccupied truck near the Cornwells Train Station Park and Ride on Station Avenue and apprehended Sturts on foot nearby, police said.
During an interview at police headquarters, Sturts admitted to driving the Silverado during the burglary at the Bensalem Township shop and several other businesses in the region, authorities said, police said.
Sturts was arraigned before District Judge Mark Douple, who set bail at 10 percent of $150,000. He was remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility..
Bensalem Township police said additional charges from other jurisdictions are forthcoming.
Bensalem Township investigators credited the Tredyffrin Township Police Department for their assistance in the investigation.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
