Men Waive Hearings for Resisting Arrest, Burglary

A former employee of the Smoke Stack in Moon Township waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday on charges that he entered the business overnight to steal lottery tickets. 

Raymond Forrester, 23, of Oakdale, left his job at the tobacco shop in November, but used a security code to access the store 15 times after leaving his job, stealing dozens of lottery tickets valued at more than $1,100, police said in a complaint. 

Forrester appeared Tuesday in Coraopolis District Court. 

Staff members at the Smoke Stack reported multiple overnight break-ins at the business, but the building, located off Carnot Road, showed no signs of forced entry. 

Forrester was caught on surveillance video entering the store. Moon Police arrested him in December after spotting his white pick-up truck in shop's parking lot as officers were responding to a panic alarm. 

Forrester is charged with dozens of counts of burglary and criminal trespass, according to court records. 

A formal arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 26. 

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• A Moon Township man waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday on charges he attacked his mother and resisted arrest. Barry Buffington, 43, faces a formal arraignment on Feb. 26. Police on Dec. 20 responded to a complaint of a domestic altercation at Buffington's Flaugherty Run Road home. Buffington was subdued with a Taser gun after he clenched his fists and lunged at an officer, police said. 

• Floyd Gardner, 31, of Moon, waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday on a charge of simple assault. Gardner was arrested Jan. 2 on Pillar Drive. A formal arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 26. 

• Joseph Stoberski, 20, of Monroeville, waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday on charges including burglary, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. Police said Stoberski on Dec. 22 became intoxicated and entered a Lee Drive apartment, according to a complaint.