SOMERSET — The slender, tall man appeared not to try to hide his face. He entered a place he was very familiar with because he had gone there many times to get out of the cold, to get a cool pop or a candy bar for free when the owner was filling the vending machines.
He knew about the security cameras, according to the owner, Stephanie Mostoller.
It was just past 6 a.m. March 8 when the suspect, identified as John Wortman, entered the Hometown Wash and Dry along North Center in the borough. His visage was recognizable on security cameras placed in the business, at least to Mostoller, who had seen that face many times.
So far this year, the laundromat's skill games had been hit by thieves three times, Mostoller said. All the instances were tough, however, this one was more than tough. It was "disappointing."
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On the security cameras videotape shown by Mostoller to a Daily American reporter, one can see a man walking toward the section with the Pennsylvania Skills Machines, appearing to hesitate and then leaving through the back door. The time stamp was 6:02 a.m. The business opens at 6 a.m. The same man returned at 6:05 a.m. carrying a large, red bolt cutter in his right hand. He used it to cut both safety locks off the front of the skills machines, then used a yellow tool he took out of his back pants pocket and proceeded to hit the machine with it until the front of the machine opened. Next, he grabbed the yellow and gray money box inside the machines and headed to the back door with it, according to Somerset police officer Christina Sechler in a probable-cause affidavit. The box contained $1,071, she wrote. The damage to the machines was between $700 and $900, according to Mostoller.
On March 13, the 39-year-old was picked up by police on an escape charge. Wortman had been running for six days. He had been furloughed from the Somerset County Jail and transferred to what is commonly called Twin Lakes for treatment March 7, but he never entered the facility. He ran, authorities said.
Why:Somerset escapee back in custody after six-day search
"John has been a client here at the laundromat," Mostoller said. "I spoke to him. He would come in and warm up sometimes. He would come in and play our skills machines. Sometimes he would do laundry.
"He was a known person to the business, to myself," she said.
According to Mostoller, the suspect, who did not cover his face, cut the locks off the skills games "in view of my security cameras of which he is familiar with, and still pulled money out of the machine and damaged the machine."
Mostoller said she was "really disappointed in him and his choice. I feel I had gone out of my way to help him. I have shown him kindness and respect."
Over the past two years, since buying the business, Mostoller said she had seen several individuals who appeared homeless for various reasons. "I see they don't have a lot of resources or places to go so they end up staying with people in some of the local hotels nearby," she said.
Those individuals have changed and appeared to "go downhill over a period of time," Mostoller said. "Although I've tried to help them, letting them come in and warm up. They use the bathroom at times and they continue to get worse to the point they are intimidating some of my customers and committing thefts to our business.
"They are individuals, maybe they have made bad choices or life has taken them down a bad road. again I was very disappointed in John given our history of trying to help him and making sure he was OK on certain days," she said as she repaired one of her machines recently.
Mostoller has worked closely with the police. She said the police tell her that a handful of these individuals have been arrested for crimes such as theft of businesses and are back on the streets very quickly for various reasons.
"They have expressed their frustrations to me as was my frustration being expressed to them.
"I don't know what the answer is – rather more resources to help these individuals that are cohabitating with each other because they don't have anywhere to go or we need to have tougher sentences to these people that continue to commit these crimes, but at the end of the day, law-abiding business owners and citizens are being impacted by the situation," Mostoller said.
As for this year's thefts at her business, Mostoller said, "All three times were during business hours, two of the three times there were individuals in the building when the theft occurred. I really think that they don't care about being arrested or have no fear of being arrested."
Wortman was charged with theft, receiving stolen property and criminal mischief, misdemeanors, in this case.
Additionally, he has been charged in another case where he is accused of taking packages off a front porch along South Kimberly Avenue on Feb. 18. The residents had a Ring camera facing the front porch that showed the suspect, who was wearing a face mask. The residents then retrieved the packages back from the suspect, according to a probable-cause affidavit. On March 10, the victims saw Wortman's face online and went to the police, claiming when the suspect was approached and he returned the packages his face covering was removed. He is charged with theft of mail, a felony, and receiving stolen property in this case.
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