Moon Teen Helps Police Catch Burglary Suspect

A Moon Township teenager helped authorities nab a burglary suspect after she snapped a photo of the man's car, police said. 

Police Chief Leo McCarthy said a woman and her teenage daughter arrived home at about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday and discovered a strange car parked in their Shafer Road driveway.

The teen took a photo of the car's license plate. The women said a man then ran from inside the home, carrying a wooden jewelry box, and drove off in the car, McCarthy said. 

McCarthy said 45 minutes later the burglary suspect, 26-year-old Brian James Flesher, was in police custody. 

Police traced the license plate number from the photo to the owner of the vehicle's home on Oswald Street in Pittsburgh's Brighton Heights neighborhood.

A Moon Township Police detective drove to the location and spotted Flesher's vehicle on nearby California Avenue, and followed him to a parking lot. 

When the detective approached Flesher's vehicle, he spotted the missing jewelry box in the front passenger seat. 

Pittsburgh Police in zone one took Flesher into custody. He waived his Miranda rights and said that he was in the Moon area to buy prescription pills when he decided to kick in a door on Shafer Road.

After leaving Moon, he sold one piece of the stolen jewelry for $40, according to police. 

Flesher has recently been released from prison. He is on parole for a burglary in Lawrence County, McCarthy said.

The man was taken to the Allegheny County Jail and held on $10,000 bail. 

Flesher is charged with felony burglary, criminal mischief, theft by unlawful taking, and receiving stolen property. Detective William Lonkert is listed as the arresting officer on the case, according to court documents. 

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11 at Coraopolis District Court.