Steven Nichols, 53, left walks to the courtroom of District Judge Joseph Nash in Slippery Rock with attorney Bruce Carsia on Friday. Nichols and his son, Archie Marino, are accused of multiple distraction-style burglaries. Seb Foltz/Butler Eagle

Archie Marino, 35, left walks to the courtroom of District Judge Joseph Nash in Slippery Rock with his attorney Bruce Carsia on Friday. Marino and his father, Steven Nichols, are accused of multiple distraction-style burglaries. Seb Foltz/Butler Eagle

SLIPPERY ROCK — Only two of the seven senior citizens from Butler County and across the state identified one of the two Florida men, who are father and son, charged with 2018 distraction-style burglaries at their homes at a preliminary hearing Friday.

Those identifications combined with security camera photos and records of car rentals, hotel stays, bank deposits and cellphone use proved to be enough evidence for Steven Nichols, 53, and Archie Marino, 35, of Florida to be held for court on numerous burglary and theft charges.

District Judge Joseph Nash ordered all charges filed against the duo by the state Attorney General’s office to proceed to Common Pleas Court. Nash said he wasn’t necessarily convinced of guilt, but he didn’t have to be for the preliminary hearing. He said the phone records and other records were enough to send the cases to court.

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