Courts. (Credit: Tingey Law Firm)
Tyler Jackson Herman, of the 1000 block of Valley Court, allegedly called 911 to report he not only burglarized a Montgomery County vape store, but also crashed afterward
A felony burglary charge was withdrawn against an 18-year-old Pennsburg Borough man at a preliminary hearing Wednesday, but other serious offenses were moved to Montgomery County court for his alleged role in an underage DUI crash and theft incident in Lower Salford Township.
Even though Tyler Jackson Herman, of the 1000 block of Valley Court, allegedly admitted to police that he used a rock to break into the vape store in the Harley Commons Shopping Center at 345 Main Street at 2:04 a.m. June 15, according to an affidavit filed by Lower Salford Township investigators, he will be arraigned in August on a felony criminal trespassing charge.
Herman is also charged with misdemeanor theft and receiving stolen property, and misdemeanor DUI charges, and summary offenses of criminal mischief and improperly displaying a registration plate, according to court files.
According to the criminal complaint, police were dispatched at 2:04 a.m. for a burglary alarm at the vape store, where they found a side glass door pane had been broken out, making a hole large enough to climb through.
Backup arrived to clear the inside of the store; officers found no one, but rather merchandise scattered along the floor near a display case, police said.
Then, at 2:38 a.m., Montgomery County emergency dispatch radioed police regarding an accident at 169 Yoder Road from a 911 caller.
The caller? Herman himself, police allege.
Herman told police he stole from Vape To Go, according to the complaint.
A corporal remained with the store manager at the scene of the burglary, while officers responded to the crash. About 100 yards north of the intersection of Yoder and Clemens roads, they allegedly found Herman standing next to a red Nissan Maxima with no license plate, with heavy front-end damage and passenger side rear wheel damage.
Herman was detained, and police returned to the car, where, from outside the car, they saw large quantities of merchandise on the passenger seat and foot well consistent with Vape To Go merchandise, police said.
Herman admitted it took him three attempts to break the glass door with a rock, according to the complaint.
While speaking with Herman, he had an odor of alcohol emanating from his body, police allege. When asked if he had any drugs or alcohol, Herman said he drank three Four Loko’s prior to calling 911, police said.
He told police he crashed his car twice before it became inoperable, according to the affidavit.
A preliminary breath test at the scene resulted in a BAC of .117%, police said. Police took him to Lower Salford Police headquarters, where a field sobriety test was conducted, according to the complaint.
He refused the sobriety tests after vomiting several times, police said, but then agreed to a chemical test of his blood. Herman was taken to Lansdale Police Department to meet with VMSC Emergency Medical Services personnel for a blood draw at 4:16 a.m., police said, which was sent for analysis of BAC.
The teenager is out on $50,000 unsecured bond, set by on-call Magisterial District Judge Scott T. Palladino, according to court documents. He is represented by a public defender.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
