Alleged Antiques Store Thief Foiled by Flat Tire

Upper Saucon Township police have charged George William Kugler, 33, of Center Valley with receiving stolen property worth almost $2,000 after his broken-down pickup truck was found with property from a local antiques store inside. 

According to the criminal complaint, police were contacted by the owner after he discovered a suspicious pickup truck parked outside his business. The owner told police the truck had a rear flat tire. 

When the owner approached the truck, he noticed the open bed of the truck was filled with "cast-iron gates, cast-iron hinges, cast-iron wheelbarrow, cast- iron vents/grills, steel pipes, steel hinges, cast-iron fence posts, and ornamental cast iron."

The complaint says the owner told police all these items were kept in a locked fenced-in area of the antiques store. The owner also observed a roll of electrical wire in the truck's cab and recognized it as a roll he had recently purchased. 

Police issued a search warrant of the vehicle, and arrested Kugler on June 8.