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Man charged with breaking and entering

KINGWOOD — A Terra Alta man faces multiple felony charges for alleged break-ins — many of them documented on security videos.

Joshua Lee Reckart, 31, was in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail Thursday in lieu of $300,000 bail. He is charged with four counts of breaking and entering, and one of grand larceny,

According to criminal complaints by Preston sheriff’s deputies:

  • On Nov. 4, a witness saw two men, one identified as Reckart, loading a yellow generator into a vehicle at a building on Scott Cramer Road. The door to the storage building was ripped off, and the witness knew Reckart and knew the owners were away.

    When Cpl. W.T. McNair served a warrant on the other man’s garage, he found the generator. The man produced a bill of sale from Reckart and said the two of them picked it up at the Scott Cramer Road location.

  • On Nov. 29, the owners of The Laundry Basket in Terra Alta filed a complaint that a dollar bill changer had been stolen. Security video showed a man, identified by police as Reckart, use a pry bar to tilt a camera up.

    Other video showed him walking toward the bill changer and outside. It was the same man seen in video of two other incidents Sgt. J.B. Childers was investigating. Another man was seen outside waiting.

  • On Nov. 29, Delano’s Carpet in Terra Alta reported a break-in. Security video showed Reckart, carrying a pry bar, entering and letting in a second man. Reckart pried open an office door and began looking through things.

    The second suspect entered a garage and took bib overalls, which he is seen carrying through the building as the two look in a freezer and another office. They took a 32-inch, flat-screen TV in a box and half a case of Nutrisystem.

  • On Nov. 29, Ball Auction in Terra Alta reported a breaking and entering. The security footage included audio, and one of the suspects refers to the other by name. A pry tool was used to force open doors.

    One of the men said he found $1. The other asked him how he got over the counter. The owners said only $1 was taken.

On Wednesday, Keith Wayne Burgess, 31, of Terra Alta, was charged with being an accessory after police went to his home, looking for Reckart.

According to a criminal complaint, Burgess said Reckart wasn’t there even as Reckart tried to flee out the back. Burgess was in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail Thursday in lieu of $5,000 bond.

The investigation continues.

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