Alleged thief caught in the act by victim

A man and his girlfriend face theft charges after the man allegedly tried to rip-off his former employer and was caught in the act.

The suspects, Ronald Kevin Pendergraph and Rhonda Gail Lucci, are charged with burglary for the Thursday incident which happened at a home on Fisher Street.

According to police reports, the victim, who was driving by his own home, saw Pendergraph standing around his garage just after 1 p.m. and became suspicious. Pendergraph had worked for him a short time before, but had no business being on his property since he was not currently employed by him.

The victim then stopped and questioned Pendergraph as to what he was doing there, at which time the resident said he saw his DeWalt mitre box saw in the bed of the Pendergraph’s pickup.

When police arrived, Pendergraph allegedly claimed the saw was his, saying he had owned the saw for a long time.

However, during later questioning Pendergraph backed off of his ownership story, claiming he was ‘merely borrowing’ the saw from his former employer.

Meanwhile Lucci, who had been sitting in Pendergraph’s truck the whole time, was taken to River Park Hospital for observation after she became combative when officers took her into custody. Police suspect Lucci was under the influence of some type of intoxicant.