Warrington Man Stole, Resold Snowplow Controllers: Police

WARRINGTON, PA — A Montgomery County Common Pleas Court judge has imposed a hefty state prison sentence on a Bucks County man who had been convicted on charges that he stole snowplow controllers from businesses in two counties and then resold the expensive items online.

Jason Andrew Lear, 35, of Warrington Township, Bucks County, will be heading to prison for five to 12 years following sentencing by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Henry S. Hilles, III, who convicted Lear during an early bench trial, according to media reports and court records.

Records show that Lear received his prison sentence during court proceedings last week.

Lear was found guilty of theft from a motor vehicle, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, all first-degree misdemeanors, as well as a third-degree misdemeanor count of criminal mischief, according to the criminal docket sheet in the case.

The Mercury newspaper of Pottstown reported that the criminal charges against Lear stemmed from multiple incidents in which Lear stole snowplow controllers off of vehicles in both Montgomery and Bucks Counties between October 2019 and February 2020.

The Mercury reported that the businesses that had been targeted were in Lansdale Borough, as well as Upper Moreland, Lower Moreland and Abington Townships in Montgomery County, as well as the communities of Plumstead, Northampton, Lower Southampton and Warminster in Bucks Counties.

The paper also reported that Lear had assaulted Lower Moreland Township Police Officer Christopher Daniel when Daniel attempted to perform a stop on the defendant back in January 2020.

Daniel ended up sustaining several injuries in connection with the incident, including broken ribs.

A 2015 article in The Intelligencer newspaper said that Lear had earlier been in trouble with the law relating to a theft of landscaping equipment at the Upper Moreland Township Parks and Recreation maintenance yard.

In that case, Lear had been part of a two-man team who had performed the thefts. He received close to a year in prison in connection with those crimes.

In the most recent case, Lear had been selling the pricey snowplow equipment that he had stolen from numerous businesses on eBay.

Records show that in addition to the prison sentence, Lear has been ordered to pay restitution of around $45,000 relating to the thefts.

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