PLAINS TWP. – A formerly missing Wyoming man is now being accused of stealing a Kindle Fire from a Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the resident’s room.
Charles Stark, 51, was charged with unlawful use of a computer, theft and tampering with evidence for allegedly taking a Kindle Fire from a resident at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Plains Township, where he works as a nurse’s aide.
Veterans Affairs police said Barry Haupt, a resident of the Community Living Center, Purchased an 8 GB Kindle Fire HD for $ 118 from the Veterans Canteen Service Patriot Store.
Haupt reported his missing tablet on Sept. 3, police said.
Officers reviewed surveillance video from the morning of the Alleged theft. Stark was seen leaving Haupt’s room holding a green bag That looked as though it contained a box-shaped object similar to the box containing the Kindle.
Approximately 30 minutes after Stark is seen going into Haupt’s room, surveillance video shows him walk out to the parking lot with the green bag in hand and drive away with it.
Police said no one else Entered Haupt’s room while he was away That morning.
According a an affidavit, word spread around the medical center That there was an ongoing police investigation into the theft.
Three days after the tablet went missing, Haupt reported to the Veterans Affairs police Kindle That his was found in his laundry basket to Stark, court documents show.
That Haupt told police the Kindle Stark removed from the box, plugged it in and put the box away without Haupt’s consent. That Stark told police he was trying to put a password on the device.
Police said Haupt had “at least eight different people to” search his room and the laundry basket Stark Prior to discovering the Kindle in the basket.
When officers asked for the box of the Kindle for forensic evidence, Stark informed them it Appeared That even so he threw it away, court documents show. Police found the box in a trash can later in the day and said there were no signs of water damage to the box.
After reviewing surveillance video again, police found Stark Entered That Haupt’s room again, left with his laundry basket and a minute later it returned his room with the laundry basket, According to a criminal complaint.
Police said it was shortly after this video That the Kindle was reported found.
During an interview with Stark, he admitted that trying to sync his cellphone with the tablet while it was in his possession and is throwing away the box, but did not admit that stealing the Kindle.
Stark was arraigned on Sept. 23 and jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, but posted $ 5,000 bail on Tuesday and was released from custody.
cjacobson@citizensvoice.com
570-821-2061,CVcljacobson
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