Teen jailed in robbery case also accused of burglary
A teenager already behind bars on charges in a suspected armed robbery in Butler is now also accused of breaking into a Penn Township home and stealing a safe containing a handgun and more than $1,100.
Penn Township police Wednesday charged Ian F. Zang, 19, of Butler with four felonies — burglary, trespass, theft and receiving stolen property — in the alleged March 1 break-in of a relative's home at the Port-O-Call trailer park.
Zang has been in the Butler County Prison since March 7 after Butler police say he showed up at a Greenview Gardens apartment and stole — at gunpoint — prescription medication and clothing belonging to a 21-year-old man who was there. No one was injured.
Penn Township police suspect Zang got into the trailer park home through a dog door. A family member told police Sgt. Jack Ripper that the defendant had lived at the home for several months last year.
The occupants discovered the burglary when they returned home and notified police. They also reported a small, electronic safe was missing. Among the items in the safe, police said, was a .380-caliber pistol and $1,130.
Police recovered the pistol and safe March 2. Ripper later interviewed Zang at the prison. He admitted breaking into the home and taking the safe, Ripper said, but he denied there was a gun or money in it.
Police charged him in the burglary and theft, and arraignment is pending.
Butler police arrested Zang after he allegedly appeared March 7 at a Greenview Gardens apartment, wearing a red bandana over his face and brandishing a .22-caliber revolver.
He demanded the clothing and other items belonging to the Butler man who answered the door, according to court documents.
Police were called and officers saw a man, later identified as Zang, run up a set of stairs in a common hallway at the apartment complex. He was detained.
Under a rug next to him, police said, officers found a .22-caliber revolver that was loaded, a red bandana, clothing and medication with the victim's name on it.
District Judge William Fullerton arraigned the defendant on felony charges of robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and theft. He is in the prison on $25,000 bond.