UPDATE: Two Charged in Valley Green Burglaries

Two men were arrested Monday

Justin R. Snyder, 19, of Alburtis and Jonathan D. Covine, 20, of Coplay, were each charged by Upper Saucon police with two counts of burglary, one count of theft by unlawful taking, and two counts of theft from a motor vehicle.

District Judge David Harding set bail at $50,000 each in a video arraignment from the Lehigh County prison.

According to the arrest affidavit, both Covine and Snyder entered four homes on Feb. 2. Two were in the 3300 block of Bayhill Drive North, and two were in the 3000 block of Muirfield Road, both in Center Valley.

The affidavit said:

On Feb. 2, they entered a home on Bayhill Drive North at about 6:15 a.m. through an opened, attached garage. They removed items from a vehicle and piled them on the floor. The homeowner saw them, screamed, and Snyder and Covine ran.

On the same day, they entered another home on the same street through an opened garage door. They took a set of Callaway golf clubs and Nike golf drivers valued at $1,400.

Also on Feb. 2, Covine and Snyder entered a car parked in a driveway on Muirfield Road. They used the electric garage door opener in the vehicle, opened the garage door and left.

On the same day, on the same road, another homeowner found that someone had rummaged through his vehicle in his driveway on Muirfield Road.

The affidavit also states an Upper Saucon police officer found a briefcase and some business cards in the middle of Keystone Drive, which is in the Valley Green subdivision. The business cards belonged to a Whitehall man, who had reported his car stolen, according to Whitehall police.

The next day, a detective with the Lehigh County Task Force allegedly found the car in Covine’s and Snyder’s possession. The golf clubs allegedly were in the car.

"They were found in a stolen car with the clubs from the burglary on Bay Hill North Drive," said police chief Robert Coyle. "It helped identify [Covine and Snyder] as the suspects for the Valley Green break-ins."

Snyder told police he and Covine had entered homes in the Valley Green Subdivision on Feb. 2 and that he stole the golf clubs, according to the affidavit.

In addition Snyder was charged by Allentown police with two counts of burglary, two counts of unlawful taking, and two counts of receiving stolen property. The charges stem from break-ins at the Econo Lodge on Dec. 29 as well as a Hess Express on Dec. 26 in Allentown. Snyder allegedly took $4 in cash and a 32-inch television. Damages from the break-ins are estimated at $1,300.

Harding also set bail at $50,000 for the Allentown cases.