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3 charged in theft of vases from cemetery

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Associated Press

LOWER BURRELL, Pa.

Police say three people have been charged with stealing more than 100 bronze vases from a Pittsburgh area cemetery.

Authorities say 27-year-old Daniel Scott Toy of Kittanning, 28-year-old Brandi Jo Verner of Vandergrift, and 20-year-old Zechariah Berger of Columbia are facing charges of theft and receiving stolen property.

The vases, worth about $750 each, were purportedly taken from Greenwood Cemetery in March and April and then sold to a scrap yard in order to buy heroin. An employee of the scrap yard alerted police.

Police estimated the total value of the missing vases at about $89,000.

Toy and Verner are in jail, unable to post $50,000 bond. Police say Berger will be charged upon release from drug rehabilitation.

No attorneys were listed on court papers.