A Schoharie man was arrested on burglary charges early Thursday morning after allegedly breaking into a 94-year-old woman’s house for the second time in the Town of Wright, and stealing dynamite from a garage in the Town of Middleburgh.
State Troopers arrested Barton L. Schanz, 19, of Gage Road at about 3:45am when he drove into the woods after allegedly taking frozen food and towels from the home of a woman on Sellick Road in the Town of Wright, said State Police Investigator Mario DiCristofaro.
When police searched his car, they found 10 16-inch sticks of dynamite, blasting caps, and a detonation cord in the trunk, Investigator DiCristofaro said. Those items were taken from a garage on Cotton Hill Road in the Town of Middleburgh prior to the break-in on Sellick Road.
The State Police Bomb Disposal Unit responded and took possession of the explosives.
A search of Mr. Schanz home resulted in the discovery of 50 blasting caps in a barn located on the property, police said. The bomb disposal unit secured the blasting caps at the scene.
Mr. Schanz allegedly broke into the woman’s home in Wright on April 28 at about 9pm and took a change jar, cell phone and blood pressure monitor before being discovered by the woman, police said.
He left only to return early Thursday morning.
Mr. Schanz, Investigator DiCristofaro said, could not get into the main part of the house but stole items from the breezeway. The woman called 911 and a neighbor.
The people on the road were “on alert” since the first break-in, the Investigator said.
“We were lucky,” he said. The people in the area were great. Without them, who knows what happens?”
The police arrived on the scene and Mr. Schanz apparently drove his car into the woods and began dumping items taken in the burglaries, police said. Those items were recovered the next day.
Among the items recovered were many taken from the garage in Middleburgh, the Investigator said.
In addition to the dynamite, blasting caps and detonation cord, other items taken were hunting goods, traps, tools, knives, a propane tank, drills, a welding torch, a bow and arrow and a shot gun, police said.
Investigator DiCristofaro said the dynamite and other related items were left in the garage of the seasonal residence by a well driller several years ago.
Mr. Schanz was charged with two counts of second-degree burglary for allegedly twice breaking into the Wright home and a charge of third-degree burglary and criminal possession of a weapon in the third-degree for the theft of the explosives in the Town of Middleburgh, police said.
He was arraigned in the Town of Cobleskill court and sent to the county jail in lieu of $25,000 bail or $50,000 bond on each burglary, according to Schoharie County District Attorney James Sacket.
Investigator DiCristofaro said that Mr. Schanz would be charged Monday with third-degree burglary with the theft of items from a storage shed in the Gallupville Cemetery on April 28.
Some of the items taken from the shed, chain saws, a gas can and trimmers, were recovered in the woods near the Sellick Road home on Friday, police said.
The cemetery is about a quarter mile from that scene, the Investigator said.
Police said the investigation is continuing and additional arrests are anticipated. Federal agents from the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Agency in Albany also assisted in the investigation.