A man who police say confided in his cousins about his thieving escapades, then burglarized those cousins' home later that night, led them to arrest three others in connection with multiple burglaries in Scranton and Dunmore.
On Monday, Thomas Krostag told his cousin's wife he stole a carton of cigarettes from Walgreens, 330 S. Main Ave., on Nov. 17 and then stole cartons from the Citgo gas station on Railroad Avenue Nov. 24 after pinning the clerk against the cigarette rack. Scranton police say Andrew Stratz, 24, of Taylor, helped commit the Citgo robbery.
The same night he told his cousins about his thefts, Mr. Krostag returned to their home at 1916 Jackson Street with Christopher Sacco, 40, of Dunmore, and Douglas Davey, 58, of Scranton, and took two laptops, an Xbox and various video games, later exchanging the stolen goods for heroin, police said.
Scranton police picked up Mr. Krostag on Thursday. He then filled police in on his various thefts and talked about who helped him.
Mr. Sacco later confessed he was responsible for a burglary in Dunmore on Thursday morning, in which he took a few hundred dollars from his upstairs neighbor at 133 Franklin St., Dunmore Police Chief Patrick Reese said.
Mr. Krostag and Mr. Stratz face charges of robbery, criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property stemming from the robbery of the gas station.
Mr. Krostag, Mr. Davey and Mr. Sacco face a slew of theft and conspiracy charges for the burglary on Jackson Street.
Chief Reese said Dunmore police expect to file burglary charges against Mr. Sacco for the incident at the Franklin Street home.
Arraignment and bail information for the four men were unavailable Thursday night.
Contact the writer: ksullivan@timesshamrock.com, @ksullivanTT on Twitter